Management

Entrepreneurship is viewed as the essence of free enterprise, especially with the creation of new business, which influences the market economy and hence its sustainability. Since its independence in 1957, Malaysia has implemented significant national strategies in the development of its economy through the engagement of the Bumiputera (Indigenous) community into entrepreneurial activity. However, with this significant growth, little empirical research has been conducted on assessing the critical factors that assist Bumiputera New Technology-Based Small Firms (NTBSFs) to sustain their business. Based on an international review of the literature, this conceptual paper aims to identify the critical human capital factors that may assist, or constrain, the sustainability of Bumiputera NTBSFs.

In the new global economy, the importance of inward foreign investment towards a country’s economic growth has become a central issue, especially amongst developing countries. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of literature addressing the implications of foreign investment towards the sustainability of business amongst Malaysian Bumiputera (Indigenous) new technology-based firms (NTBFs). Utilizing Weick’s (1989) conceptual theory building approach, this study provides a foundation for conceptualizing the implications of foreign investment in Malaysian Bumiputera new technology-based firms. Through systematic documentary analysis of the development of foreign investment activities in Malaysia prior to independence (1957) until 2009, our consolidated findings yield a conceptual model showing the implications of foreign investment to the sustainability of Malaysian Bumiputera NTBFs, and thus contribute to the existing inward foreign investment literature and to the understanding of the evolution of Bumiputera NTBFs.

The intent of this exploratory study is to extend our understanding on the cultivation of organizational innovation towards sustainability in business amongst Malaysian Bumiputera New, Technology-Based Small Firms (NTBSFs) by interviewing five Indigenous technology-based entrepreneurs and analysing companies’ documents. The integration of these exploratory qualitative methods reveals that all the entrepreneurs are concern on the importance of organizational innovation towards their long-term performance in the technology industry The finding of this exploratory study generally indicates the perception of Indigenous entrepreneurs on the importance of organizational innovation for sustaining their business operations as well as determinants of organizational innovation in technology-based firms owned or founded by Malaysian Indigenous people. Based on these findings, a conceptual model of organizational innovation drivers is proposed at the end of this paper.

The investigation of main reasons why individuals chose to be an entrepreneur has been recognized as one of the most important aspects in the creation of a business venture and consequently has become a central question of entrepreneurship research. The intent of this qualitative study is to extend our understanding on reasons why Malaysian Bumiputera (Indigenous) entrepreneurs chose to venture into ICT-based businesses. Based on an inductive qualitative approach, fifteen Malaysian Bumiputera ICT-based entrepreneurs had been interviewed. Interviews uncovered five reasons that drove them to venture into the ICT industry: having related ICT knowledge, perceived available opportunities in the ICT industry, passionate in the ICT industry, having ICT-related work experiences and the desire for creating new offerings (innovation).

This paper analyses the factors associated with the success of social entrepreneurship as proposed by Austin et al., in Asian perspective using the case of Grameen Danone Foods which is widely recognized as a successful social entrepreneurial venture in Bangladesh. The paper is exploratory, based on the case study of Grameen Danone Foods Ltd., it seeks to answer the key question: What are the factors associated with the success of social entrepreneurship? using Austin et al., (2006) analytical Framework for Social Entrepreneurship. The researchers suggested a number of factors in the areas of: opportunity, human and financial resources, contextual factors and social value. It concludes with a discussion of the implications for practitioners, policy makers and researchers of
social entrepreneurship