Firm Performance and Entrepreneurial Network: The Moderating Effect of Resources Factor in a Multiracial Country

Firm Performance and Entrepreneurial Network: The Moderating Effect of Resources Factor in a Multiracial Country

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between entrepreneurial network and firm performance in the services sector of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Entrepreneurial network is classified into two components; network structure and networking activities. Firm p...

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Main Author: Law, Kuan Kheng
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
eng
Published: 2012
Subjects:
HB615-715 Entrepreneurship
Risk and uncertainty
Property
Online Access:https://etd.uum.edu.my/3481/1/s91381.pdf
https://etd.uum.edu.my/3481/8/s91381.pdf
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institution Universiti Utara Malaysia
collection UUM ETD
language eng
eng
advisor Minai, Mohd Sobri
topic HB615-715 Entrepreneurship
Risk and uncertainty
Property
spellingShingle HB615-715 Entrepreneurship
Risk and uncertainty
Property
Law, Kuan Kheng
Firm Performance and Entrepreneurial Network: The Moderating Effect of Resources Factor in a Multiracial Country
description The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between entrepreneurial network and firm performance in the services sector of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Entrepreneurial network is classified into two components; network structure and networking activities. Firm performance is measured from the perspectives of sales, profitability and overall performance. The main focus of this study is to test the moderating effect of the various types of resources (finance, information, moral support and infrastructure facilities) on the relationship between the entrepreneurial network and firm performance. In addition, the unique multiracial scenario in Malaysia enabled the researcher to further investigate the homogeneity and heterogeneity of network characteristics between the Malay and the Chinese owner-managers. The findings from the study indicated that entrepreneurial network has significantly influenced the firm performance. However, it is limited to certain dimensions of the entrepreneurial networks. On the other hand, the findings also revealed that the moral support resource has significantly moderated the relationship between entrepreneurial network and firm performance. From the analysis on the two ethnic groups that there was a significant difference on entrepreneurial network characteristic (network size of family members, network size of relatives, network size of friends, network size of government agencies and total network size) between Malay and Chinese owner-managers. Besides, the findings of the study also indicated that there was a significant relationship between entrepreneurial network and firm performance among the Chinese owner-managers but it was not significant for the Malay owner-managers. One of the major contributions of this study is that the moral support resource has significantly moderated the relationship between entrepreneurial network and firm performance. Besides, it provides new insights on the unique characteristics of entrepreneurial network among the Malay and Chinese owner-managers in Malaysia.
format Thesis
qualification_name Ph.D.
qualification_level Doctorate
author Law, Kuan Kheng
author_facet Law, Kuan Kheng
author_sort Law, Kuan Kheng
title Firm Performance and Entrepreneurial Network: The Moderating Effect of Resources Factor in a Multiracial Country
title_short Firm Performance and Entrepreneurial Network: The Moderating Effect of Resources Factor in a Multiracial Country
title_full Firm Performance and Entrepreneurial Network: The Moderating Effect of Resources Factor in a Multiracial Country
title_fullStr Firm Performance and Entrepreneurial Network: The Moderating Effect of Resources Factor in a Multiracial Country
title_full_unstemmed Firm Performance and Entrepreneurial Network: The Moderating Effect of Resources Factor in a Multiracial Country
title_sort firm performance and entrepreneurial network: the moderating effect of resources factor in a multiracial country
granting_institution Universiti Utara Malaysia
granting_department Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business
publishDate 2012
url https://etd.uum.edu.my/3481/1/s91381.pdf
https://etd.uum.edu.my/3481/8/s91381.pdf
_version_ 1747827582619877376
spelling my-uum-etd.34812016-04-19T08:08:34Z Firm Performance and Entrepreneurial Network: The Moderating Effect of Resources Factor in a Multiracial Country 2012-11 Law, Kuan Kheng Minai, Mohd Sobri Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business HB615-715 Entrepreneurship. Risk and uncertainty. Property The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between entrepreneurial network and firm performance in the services sector of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Entrepreneurial network is classified into two components; network structure and networking activities. Firm performance is measured from the perspectives of sales, profitability and overall performance. The main focus of this study is to test the moderating effect of the various types of resources (finance, information, moral support and infrastructure facilities) on the relationship between the entrepreneurial network and firm performance. In addition, the unique multiracial scenario in Malaysia enabled the researcher to further investigate the homogeneity and heterogeneity of network characteristics between the Malay and the Chinese owner-managers. The findings from the study indicated that entrepreneurial network has significantly influenced the firm performance. However, it is limited to certain dimensions of the entrepreneurial networks. On the other hand, the findings also revealed that the moral support resource has significantly moderated the relationship between entrepreneurial network and firm performance. From the analysis on the two ethnic groups that there was a significant difference on entrepreneurial network characteristic (network size of family members, network size of relatives, network size of friends, network size of government agencies and total network size) between Malay and Chinese owner-managers. Besides, the findings of the study also indicated that there was a significant relationship between entrepreneurial network and firm performance among the Chinese owner-managers but it was not significant for the Malay owner-managers. One of the major contributions of this study is that the moral support resource has significantly moderated the relationship between entrepreneurial network and firm performance. Besides, it provides new insights on the unique characteristics of entrepreneurial network among the Malay and Chinese owner-managers in Malaysia. 2012-11 Thesis https://etd.uum.edu.my/3481/ https://etd.uum.edu.my/3481/1/s91381.pdf text eng validuser https://etd.uum.edu.my/3481/8/s91381.pdf text eng public Ph.D. doctoral Universiti Utara Malaysia Aaker, D.A. (1989). Managing Assets and Skills: The Key to a Sustainable Competitive Advantage. California Management Review. Winter: 91-106. Abdul Ghani Farinda, Yusniza Kamarulzaman, Apnizan Abdullah, & Syed Zamberi Ahmad. 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