Post on 15-Sep-2019
ENTREPRENEURIAL JNTENTION AMONG FEB UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN UNIMAS
Nur Amni Batrisya Bihti Wadell
Corporate Master in Business Administration
2013
APPROVAL PAGE
I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to
acceptable standards of scho,larly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality,
as a research paper for the degree of Corporate Master in Business Administration.
Dr. Harry Entebang
Supervisor
The research paper was summited to the Faculty of Economics and Business, UNIMAS
and is accepted as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Corporate
Master in Business Administration.
Dr Mohamad Affendy Arif
Dean, Faculty of Economics and Business
UNIMAS
DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT
Name : Nur Amni Batrisya Binti Wadell
Matric Number : 12030004
I hereby declare that this research paper is to the best of the author's knowledge that of
the author except where due reference is made.
Signature: ___j._W\_~______
l" , if U>13Date:
© Copyright by Nur Amni Batrisya Bt WadeU and UNIMAS
11
,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdulillah, by the will ofAllah, I am able to complete my Corporate Business Project
(CBP) within the required time. I would like foremost extend my sincere gratitude to all
those efforts, who facilitated the completion of this paper.
First and foremost I offer my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Harry
Entebang, who has supported me throughout my Corporate Business Project (CBP) with
his motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped me in all the
time of CBP work and writing the report by commenting on my views and helping me
understand and enrich my ideas. I am sure that CBP would have not been possible
without his help, support and patience. One simply could not wish for a better or
friendlier supervisor.
. Besides, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Muhd Kharique Muhd
Sadique and Dr. Abang Zainoren Abang Abdurahman for their generous supportive ideas
and assistance that made my CBP report a success. From the experience in preparing this
project paper, I had learned a lot of things and enjoy the process of investigating,
analysing, theoretical building that bringing meaningful to the CBP report.
Finally, 1 would like to thank everybody who important for me including my
family members and my friends that has been a constant source of love, concern, support
and strength all these years. Last but not the least important my fiance, Zaki Bin Johnny,
for his love, patience, encouragement and continuous support which have made it
possible for me to complete my CBP. To all those people, thank you so much.
iii
I'
,......
ABSTRACT
r Entrepreneurship becomes a buzz word nowadays as it has positive impacts towards
economic development. Most of the entrepreneurial studies are based in the developed
countries as compared with developing country like Malaysia, especially in Sarawak
regi0.y Therefore, this study is conducted to understand the factors that influence
entrepreneurial intention among FEB (Faculty of Economics and Business)
undergraduate's students at UNIMAS. Besides, this study also done to identify what are
the most important factors that may have influenced students to pursue entrepreneurship
as they career choice after graduation. Using survey questionnaire and convenience
sampling, two hundred and ninety two undergraduate's students were selected for this
study. The data collected were analysed using correlation and mUltiple regression
analysis. The results revealed that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural
control, entrepreneurship education and family background positively influenced
entrepreneurial intention among FEB undergraduate students Out of these factors,
attitude emerged as the most important factor. Finally, some of recommendations were
suggested for future research.
Keywords: Attitude, Socia) Norm, Perceived Behavioral Control, Entrepreneurship
Education, Family Background, and Entrepreneurial Intention.
iv
ABSTRAK
Keusahawanan menjadi topik perbualan hangat sekarang ini kerana ianya mempunyai
kesan yang positij ke arah pembangunan ekonomi negara. Kebanyakan daripada kajian
keusahawanan di lakukan di negara maju membandingkan negara membangun seperti
Malaysia, terutama sekali dalam rantau Sarawak. Lantaran itu, kajian ini dijalankan
untuk memahami faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi hasrat keusahawan di kalangan
pe/ajar mahasiswa FEB (Fakulti Ekonomi dan Perniagaan) di UNlMAS. Selain itu,
lcajian ini juga diadakan untuk mengenal pasti apakah faktor paling penting yang
mempengaruhi pelajar untuk memilih usahawan sebagai pilihan kerjaya mereka setelah
bergraduat nanti. Dengan mengunakan borang soal selidik dan persampelan mudah,
eramai dua ratus sembilan puluh dua orang pelajar telah dipilih untuk menyertai kajian
ini. Data yang dikumpul akan dianalisis mengunnakan analisis korelasi and regresi
berganda. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa sikap, norma subjektif, kawalan tingkah
laku, pendidikan keusahawanan dan latar belakang keluarga secara positij
mempengaruhi niat keusahawanan antara pelajar mahasiswa FEB. Daripada faktor
faktor ini, sikap telah muncul sebagai faktor terpenting. Akhirnya, beberapa cadangan
untuk penyelidikan masa depan juga telah disarankan dalam kajian ini.
Eata kunci: Sikap, Norma Subjektif, Kawalan Tingkah Laku, Pendidikan Keusahawanan,
Latar Belakang Keluarga dan Hasrat Keusahawanan.
v
I
Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademik UNIVERSm MALAYSIA SARAWAK
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENT PAGE
Approval Page
Declaration and Copyright ii
Acknowledgement III
Abstract IV
Abstrak v
Table of Contents VI
List of Tables XI
List of Figures xii
List of Abbreviations XIV
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.0 Chapter Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Problem Statement 4
1.3 Research Questions 5
1.4 Research Objectives 6
1.5 Scope of the Study 7
1.6 Significant Of the Study 7
1.6.1 Contribution to Knowledge 8
VI
,..
1.7 Definition of Key Terms 9
1.7.1 Entrepreneurial Intention 9
1.7.2 Altitude 9
1.7.3 Social Norms to
1.7.4 Perceived Behavioral Control 10
1.7.5 Entrepreneurship Education 11
1.7.6 Family Background 11
1.8 Organization of the Study 12
1.9 Chapter Conclusion 13
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Chapter Introduction 14
2.1 Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship Definition 14
2.2 Entrepreneurship Revolution History 16
2.3 Entrepreneurs as Career Choice 17
2.4 Overview of Entrepreneurship Education 19
2.5 Entrepreneurial Intention Model 21
2.6 Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) 22
2.7 Factors Influencing Entrepreneurial Intention 25
2.7.1 Altitude 25
2.7.2 Subjective Norm 25
2.7.3 Perceived Behavioral Control 26
2.7.4 Entrepreneurship Education 27
2.7.5 Family Background 28
VII
--
2.8 Relationship between Independent and Dependent Variables 30
2.B.1 Attitude and Entrepreneurial Intention 30
2.B.2 Subjective Norms and Entrepreneurial Intention 30
2.B.3 Perceived Behavioural Control and Entrepreneurial 31
Intention
2.B.4 Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Intention 32
2.B.5 Family Background and Entrepreneurial Intention 33
2.9 Theoretical Framework 34
2.1 0 Chapter Conclusion 36
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 Chapter Introduction 37
3.1 Study Design 37
3.2 Population and Sample 38
3.3 Sampling Method 38
3.4 Survey Instrument 39
3.5 Hypothesis Summary 41
3.6 Pilot Test 41
3.6.1 Reliability Test 42
3.6.2 Validity Test 43
3.7 Data Analysis 43
3.7.1 Descriptive Statistic 44
3.7.2 Inferential Statistics 45
3.8 Chapter Conclusion 46
VIII
l
I...
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
4.0 Chapter Introduction 47
4.1 Response Rate 47
4.2 Respondent Background 48
4.2.1 Respondent Demographic Profile 48 i
4.2.2. Respondent General Information 50
4.3 Descriptive Statistics of Data Collection 52
4.3.1 Attitude 54
4.3.2 Subjective Norm 55 I'
4.3.3 Perceived Behavioral Control 56
4.3.4 Entrepreneurship Education 57
II 4.3.5 Family Background 58
I 4.3.6 Entrepreneurship Intention 59 !
4.4 Validity Test and Reliability Test 60 (
4.4.1 Bartlett's Test ofSphericity and KMO 60
4.4.2 Factor Analysis 62
4.4.3 Reliability Analysis ofItems 65
4.5 Inferential Analysis 66 , I4.5.1 Correlation Analysis 66
4.5.2 Regression Analysis 68
4.5.3 Regression Analysis ofANOV1 Test 75
4.6 Chapter Conclusion 76
ix
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 Chapter Introduction 77
5.1 Discussion 77
5.2 Conclusion 79
5.3 Recommendations for Future Research 81
REFERENCES 82
APPENDIX 92
Appendix A: Questionnaire 92
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
Table 3. 1: Summary of the Questionnaire Design 33
Table 3.2: Summary of the Hypotheses 35
Table 3.3: Reliability Statistic for the Pilot Test 36
Table 4.1 : Response Rate 40
Table 4.2: Respondent's Demographic Profile 42
Table 4.3: Career Intentions after Graduation 43
Table 4.4: Variables Influencing Intention to Become Entrepreneur 43
Table 4.5: Mean Categories 44
Table 4.6: Descriptive (Mean and Std. Deviation) Analysis of the Variables 45
Table 4.7: Means and Standard Deviation of Attitude Items 46 .
Table 4.8: Means and Standard Deviation of Subjective Nonn Items 47
Table 4.9: Means and Standard Deviation of Perceived Behavioral Control Items 48
Table 4. \0: Means and Standard Deviation of Entrepreneurship Education Items 49
Table 4. 11 : Means and Standard Deviation of Family Background Items 49
Table 4. 12: Means and Standard Deviation of Entrepreneurship Intention Items 50
Table 4. I 3: KMO Categories 51
Table 4. 14: KMO and Bartlett's Test 52
Table 4.15: Bartlett's Test of Sphericity and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) 52
Table 4.1 6: Rotated Component Matrix 53
Table 4. 17: Criterion for Acceptability 55
Table 4.18: Reliability Statistics 55
Table 4.19: Pearson's Correlation Scale 56
xi
Table 4.20: Correlation between Variables 67
Table 4.21: The Effect of Attitude on Entrepreneurial Intention 69
Table 4.22: The Effect of Subjective Norm on Entrepreneurial Intention 70
Table 4.23: The Effect of Perceived Behavioral Control on 71 Entrepreneurial Intention
Table 4.24: The Effect of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial 72
Intention
Table 4.25: The Effect of Family Background on Entrepreneurial Intention 73
Table 4.26: Regression Analysis on Model Summary 74
Table 4.27: Regression Analysis of ANOVA Test 75
Table 4.28: Summary Result of Hypotheses Testing 76
xii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
Figure 2.1: Theory of Planned Behavior 24
Figure 2.2: Theoretical Framework of the Research 35
XIII
ATT
ANOVA
EE
EI
FEB
FB
REls
Ibid
KMO
PBC
SN
SPSS
TPB
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Attitude
Analysis of Variance
Entrepreneurship Education
Entrepreneurial Intention
Faculty of Economics and Business
Family Background
Higher Educational Institutions
Ion Beam Induced Deposition
Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy
Perceived Behavioral Control
Subjective Norm
Statistical Package for Social Science
Theory of Planned Behavior
xiv
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Chapter Introduction
This study explores the factors that influence entrepreneurial intention among FEB
undergraduates student. This chapter includes the background of the study, followed by
problem statement, research question, research objectives, scope of study, and
significance of the study, definitions of key terms and organization of the study.
1.1 Background of the Study
Entrepreneurship has become a buzzword in this new era. It gains a lot of attention by
many countries as it is act as a primary engine of economic growth (Abd Razak Ahmad
et at., 2012). The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor states that countries with higher
levels of entrepreneurial activity will enjoy strong economic growth (Henderson, 2006).
The importance of entrepreneurship roles in supporting the economic growth of nation
has also been recognized by entrepreneurship scholarS. Arguably, entrepreneurship can
transform the knowledge into new products, new jobs, and new firms (Henderson,
2006). For a developing country like Malaysia, entrepreneurial activities are seen as a
tool to improve the distribution of income, to stimulate economic growth, and to reshape
an economic structure. In fact, entrepreneurship is very crucial to the health of
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• Malaysia's economy as Malaysia is moving forward to become a high-income economy
in 2020 (Abdullah, 1999).
By realizing the potentials of entrepreneurship in achieving the vision 2020, various
policies and plans such as the New Economic Policy (1971-1990), the National
Development Policy (1990-2000), Vision 2020 and the New Economic Model (NEM)
are carried out by the Malaysian government in the developing of entrepreneurship in
Malaysia (Norasmah Othman et aI., 2012). Besides, some funding and incentives also
allocated to spur small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (Ooi & Shuhymee Ahmad,
2012).
In particular, the Malaysian government also introduces entrepreneurship education and
training programmes in higher learning institutions since today's students are
tomorrow's potential entrepreneurs (Adnan Iqbal et aI., n. d). In fact, entrepreneurship
education and training programmes have been identified as an effective strategy to curb
the unemployment problem among graduates (Mazura Mansor & Norasmah Othman,
20 II ). This serious effort can been seen as more budget has been allocated for
entrepreneurship education in the Ninth Malaysia Plan as compared to the Eighth
Malaysia Plan (Md Nor Othman, Ezlika Ghazali & Yeoh, 2006).
Early research on entrepreneurship field and graduate career choice has highly
emphasized on personality traits and demographic factors (risk taking propensity,
internal locus of control and need for achievement, parents' occupation background, and
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the role of family exposure to business) (Mubbsher Munawar Khan et aI., 20 II;
Muhammad AsifTanveer et aI, 2013; Basu & Virick, n. d).
Lately, many scholars are interested to investigate the entrepreneurial intention using
intention model such as theory of planned behaviour (Azjen, 1991), Shapero and
Sokol's (1982) theory of the entrepreneurial event, the model of implementing
entrepreneurial ideas (Bird, 1988) and the maximisation of expected utility model
(Douglas and Shepherd, 2002) (cited in Iakovleva et aI., 20 II). Among these theories,
the TPB has proven to be successfully and consistently in predicting entrepreneurial
intentions (Ad nan Iqbal et aI., n. d; Aizzat et aI., 2009; Arifatul et aI., 20 \0; Autio et aI.,
2001, Basu & Virick, n. d; Gurbuz & Aykol, 2008; Xue et aI., 2011).
Yet, there is little understanding of the factors that influence students' intentions to
become an entrepreneur particular among undergraduate students in Sarawak.
Therefore, this study tries to explore the factors such as entrepreneurship education,
family backgrounds, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral and their
relationship with entrepreneurial Intention (EI) among university students in Sarawak.
This study is adopting an entrepreneurial Intention (EI) model: the Theory of Planned
Behavior (TPB) by Ajzen (1991).
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1.2 Problem Statement
The importance of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship is long recognjzed by scholars
(Tung et aI., 20 II). It plays a vital role for new venture creation, existing venture
expansion, social, technological and economic development of the country. Presently,
the importance of entrepreneurship goes much further where it has become a priority for
the most modem policy makers in the world including Malaysia. According to Mason
and Marhaini Ibrahim (2012), the Malaysian Government already recognized the
contribution ofentrepreneurship towards the Malaysian economy.
On the other hand, the emphasis on entrepreneurship education in Malaysia higher
educational institutions (HEls) has started since 2003 as all local public universities
students are encouraged to pursue entrepreneurship as a career jobs since the job market
become more competitive nowadays (Norasmah Othman et aI., 2012). Moreover, the
number of unemployed Malaysia graduates has increased each year. It is estimated that
around 9,338 graduates are unemployed in early 1990s and then increased to 24,413 at
the end of 1990s.
The number keep on increasing to 162,722 in the year of 2005, in which more than half
(67 percent) of them were graduates from public u~iversities and others were private
graduates (Wai Ching, 2008). Therefore the implementation of entrepreneurship
education and training has been seen as the best strategies to curb the issues of
unemployment among the Malaysian graduates.
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Pusat Kbidmnt MakJumat Akadcmik UNlVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK
However, despite the strong encouragement from the government, yet entrepreneurship
as a career choice still rarely among graduates and the number of participating among
graduates remains low. They view entrepreneurship as a second or final choice when
selecting a career after their graduation. Mohd Salleh (2002) and Zolkafli et al. (2004)
has observed that less than 0.4% of Universiti Utara Malaysia graduates are joined with
entrepreneurship (Norasmah Othman & Salmah Ishak, 2009).
Similarly, in MARA, after 3 years of taking the business and entrepreneurship based
programmes, students' interests in pursuing self-employment seemed to dissipate
(Mumtaz, n. d). Therefore, there is need to conduct a study focusing on student's
entrepreneurial intention to understand the factors that influencing their decisions to
become an entrepreneur. This study also needs to investigate what the most important
factor influence student to pursue entrepreneurs as their career choice after they
graduation.
1.3 Research Questions
By conducting this study, researcher hopes can solve research questions as mentioned
below:
I. To what extend FEB undergraduates student wiH pursue entrepreneurship venture?
2. What are the main factors influencing their intentions to choose entrepreneurship as a
career?
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1.4 Research Objectives
• Main Objective
The main concern of this study is to explore the factors that influence entrepreneurial
intention among FEB undergraduate students at UNIMAS, in Kota Samarahan,
Sarawak. This study seeks to understand factors such as Attitude, Social Norm,
Perceived Behavioral Control (Theory of Planned Behavior), Entrepreneurship
Education and Family Background on entrepreneurial intention among FEB
undergraduates students at UNIMAS.
The objectives of this study can be summarized as follows:
• Specific Objective
i. To identify factors that influence entrepreneurial intention among FEB
undergraduate students at UNIMAS.
11. To identify the most important factor that influence entrepreneurial intention
among FEB undergraduate students at UNIMAS.
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1.5 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study looked at the context and the respondents that involved in this
study. The main target population is FEB (Faculty of Economics and Business)
undergraduate's students at UNIMAS (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak) that located at
Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. This faculty have five undergraduates' programmes namely
Finance, Business Management (Marketing), International Economics, Industrial
Economics and Accountancy.
1.6 Significant of the Study
First, the findings of this study will help the educators, administrators and Ministry of
Higher Education in Malaysia by providing valuable inputs to promote and plan the best
policy and curriculum in Entrepreneurship Course for university students. By enhancing
the Entrepreneurship Course, it will attract more students especially for non-business
student to become entrepreneurs.
Second, the results of the study also have the potential to provide important insights for
policy makers in preparing what kind of supports and incentives that are needed for
graduates to develop their entrepreneurial career. This is supported by Thompson (2004)
where he states that support programs for potential entrepreneurs need to be carefully
targeted around their needs.
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1.6.1 Contribution to Knowledge
This study has several contributions to knowledge. First, the study helps to add to the
existing knowledge in entrepreneurial intention research area due to the limited
knowledge on entrepreneurship among university students especially in Sarawak.
Therefore, this study is useful to provide a profile or overview of entrepreneurial
intentions among students in Sarawak public university and contributes to theory
building.
Second, the result from this study provide a valuable input for universities in Malaysia
to understand the important of entrepreneurship education or programs in university as it
can encourage university student to become entrepreneurs one day. At the same time,
educators can enhance and improving the co-curriculum or activities from time to time
to make sure student are equipped with necessary skills and knowledge to become a
successful and knowledgeable entrepreneur.
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1.7 Definition of Key Terms
Basically, this study concerns on entrepreneurial intention definition, list of the
independent variables and dependent variable. These concepts have specific defmition
that needs to be understood in order to develop the comprehension of this study. The
definitions of terms that will use in this study are as follows:
1.7.1 Entrepreneurial Intention
Generally, entrepreneurial intentions are a state of mind, which directs and guides the
actions of the individual toward the development and the implementation of new
business concepts (Bird, 1988). It can be viewed as the intention of a person to perform
new venture creation (Grundsten, 2004; Krueger, 1993).
1.7.2 Attitude
Attitude refers to the degree which a person has a favourable or unfavourable evaluation
or appraisal of the behaviour in question It refers to the degree to which the individual
holds a positive or negative personal valuation about being an entrepreneur. For
example, I like it, it makes me feel good, and it is pleasant, it is more profitable, has
more advantages (Ajzen, 1991).
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