• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.95-103
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• 2022

This study aimed to find the mediating impact of entrepreneurial education during COVID-19 on entrepreneurial intention among university students from major cities of Pakistan. Majority of businesses shifted to online from offline mode as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. This created a great opportunity for university students to become entrepreneurs without much investment during COVID-19. Primary data for this study was collected with the help of an adopted questionnaire from previous studies. An online survey was considered appropriate due to the COVID-19 situation in the country. The number of data samples collected from the major cities of Pakistan was 460. The research hypothesis was tested with the help of SmartPLS by using least square structural equation modeling. Findings revealed there is full mediation of entrepreneurial education during COVID-19 between the self-efficacy, subjective norms, and attitude towards entrepreneurship for entrepreneurial intention during COVID-19 among university students. Therefore, the research confirmed the application of the theory of planned behavior among university students in Pakistan with regards to factors such as self-efficacy, subjective norms, attitude towards entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention. The present study also concludes that all students regardless of their area of study such as Business and Engineering look forward to become entrepreneurs during COVID-19. The students opting for entrepreneurship had either formal or informal entrepreneurial education during COVID-19.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.15-31
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• 2022

This study was conducted to suggest a start-up policy that includes start-up education and support for active seniors with various careers who try to change their careers before and after retirement. From this point of view, this study divided the factors affecting the entrepreneurial will of active seniors into entrepreneurship organizational and functional competency and identified the effect of these competencies on entrepreneurial efficacy and entrepreneurial intention. In the proposed model, start-up competency is divided into organizational competency (leadership, creativity problem-solving, communication, decision-making) and functional competency (management strategy, marketing, business plan). And this study examined the mediating role of entrepreneurial efficacy in the relationship between entrepreneurial competency factors and entrepreneurial intention. Meanwhile, PLS-POS analysis was performed to uncover the heterogeneity and pattern in the proposed structural model. The survey was conducted with the help of an online survey company from November 27 to December 15, 2020 for the active senior age group from 40 to under 65 years old. Data were collected from a total of 433 panelists and analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and SmartPLS 3.3.7 programs. The findings are as follows. First, the finding shows that the entrepreneurial organizational and functional competencies of active seniors had significant positive(+) effects on entrepreneurial efficacy. Second, the result shows that entrepreneurial organizational and functional competencies of active seniors had significant positive(+) effects on entrepreneurial intention. Third, the findings show that entrepreneurship efficacy had a significantly positive(+) effect on entrepreneurial intention. The findings of PLS-POS show that entrepreneurship education needs to be carried out by identifying the needs that require entrepreneurial organizational and functional competency when training for entrepreneurship competency. In summary, the findings of the current study are to determine what the competency factors are for the government (local government) to increase the policy direction necessary for establishing and implementing entrepreneurship education and training programs to develop policies to enhance the economic activity participation rate of active seniors.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.12
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• pp.139-146
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• 2020

The domain of entrepreneurship has been dotted across various paradigms. Identifying and examining entrepreneurial intention and propensity to it spontaneously require the insight from the lens of psychological approach. The aim of this study is to examine the influence and impact of psychological factors on entrepreneurial intention; as it is found that in Bangladeshi context several entrepreneurship studies are undertaken, still the exploratory research on interplay between the psychological factors (i.e., self-confidence, locus of control, need for achievement, and tolerance for ambiguity) and entrepreneurial intention has been merely found. The study has chosen Bangladeshi university students as the unit of analysis and the ultimate sample size in this research is n=265. The current paper is a quantitative study where sampling method is followed by convenience sampling technique, and study data is collected through survey questionnaire. Data has been compiled into SPSS whereas, for hypotheses assessment, Smart PLS software is applied. The results reflect that self-confidence, locus of control, and need for achievement are revealed as contributory determinants of entrepreneurial intention while tolerance for ambiguity is found as an insignificant predictor. The current research is expected to offer an in-depth understanding about the significance of psychological factors in examining entrepreneurial intention.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.399-407
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• 2020

The paper examines social entrepreneurial intention through outcome expectations. The proposed model incorporates outcome expectations from social cognitive career theory and theory of planned behaviors. The study also introduces a scale for outcome expectations in social entrepreneurship, including solving social problems, innovation, family tradition of social involvement, meaning in life, prestige and social recognition, competitive and favorite job and wealth. A survey of 279 students was conducted through face-to-face structured interviews. The confirm factor analysis and technique of structural equation modeling were used to explore relationships among latent constructs. Research results show that the outcomes impact only through three determinants of theory of planned behavior and do not have significant impact to social entrepreneurial intention. It suggests that outcome expectations may be a flexible factor. Individual outcome expectations can shift to motivations when facing favorable conditions such as family support, government support, etc. The findings suggest that the ability to predict social entrepreneurial intention of attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. The proposed model in this study contributes importantly to the emerging literature on entrepreneurial intention, particularly to social entrepreneurial intention. This study is also the first quantitative study to measure the impact of outcome expectations on social entrepreneurial intention.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.130-137
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• 2010

This paper analyzes the main factors affecting user selection of a small-sum electronic payment system using survey data of 396 users. Several findings emerge. First, users consider three pillars and eight factors in adopting a new system : system features(stability, security, and flexibility), transaction cost(payment commission and settlement period), and financial capability of provider(stability of financial structure, risk management capability, and funding capability). Second, the stability of the financial structure of the system provider is the most important factor to user acceptance of a new e-payment system. Users tend to consider uncertainty risk more seriously than transaction cost. This reflects the reality that electronic payment system service industry has not fully fledged yet. Third, some moderating effects exist according to payment methods and business usages. As for payment methods, speedy settlement cycle for wired/wireless phone payment, system stability for credit card and account transfer payment, and security for advance payment means are crucial factors. As for business usages, the stability of financial structure for online game content, system stability for music and video content, proxy payment commission for e-learning content, flexibility of the payment system for digital adult content, and security for public services are decisive ones.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.57-67
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• 2019

Purpose - This study aims to examine the impact of work values on entrepreneurial attitudes, and test the moderating effect of entrepreneurial opportunity identification on the above mentioned relationship as well. Research design, data, and methodology - A questionnaire survey was conducted to 258 employees who comes from 8 different types of the enterprises in northwestern of China, and the corresponding research model was verified. Results - The results show that "comfort and security" (one dimension of work values) has a significant negative impact on entrepreneurial attitudes. Another two dimensions of work values, such as "competence and growth" and "status and independence" have a significant positive impact on entrepreneurial attitudes. In addition, entrepreneurial opportunity identification has a significant moderating effect on the relations between work values and entrepreneurial attitudes. Specifically, only the entrepreneurship opportunity identification positively moderates the relationship between status & independence and entrepreneurial attitudes. Conclusions - This research further enriches the relevant theories of organizational behavior and entrepreneurships. This study also has guiding significance and value for management practice, especially for this research results implies, that is, individual's ability to entrepreneurial opportunity identification (e.g., identify feasible distribution channel for potential new venture) is important in entrepreneurship.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.5-15
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• 2013

Purpose - This pilot study explores the gap between venture capitalists and young business graduates in Pakistan. Though the young graduates remain enthusiastic about choosing entrepreneurship as a profession, their success is subject to financial constraints. Research design, data, methodology - We administered a Likert-scale based questionnaire to 200 business graduates from June to July 2012, and interviewed ten venture capitalists from Islamabad and Lahore-two highly business oriented cities of Pakistan-to collect the data. The survey participation was on a voluntary basis without any financial sponsorship. Findings- There is a communication gap between the two parties (venture capitalists and business graduates), and a lack of trust in the entrepreneurial education and training offered in the educational institutions in Pakistan. The study, however, reveals the leading role of the Government in reducing this gap through certain measures. Conclusions - Some measures that can reduce the gap between venture capitalists and young graduates are: association of business schools with industry; financial institutions'initiatives to financially support the small and medium level projects of the economics and business students during their studies; establishment of placement bureaus in the business schools; and organization of regular open houses in the universities.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.8
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• pp.473-483
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• 2020

Internationalization of SMEs has gathered pace in recent times with falling trade barriers and rising world trade encouraging small firms to seek profits and growth in foreign markets. This has attracted the attention of researchers, and several studies have been conducted in Western nations on the factors influencing the process of SME internationalization. However, hardly any study has been done on SME internationalization in the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) region, thus leaving a gap in the literature. This study investigates the influence of four factors, namely, human capital, network competency, entrepreneurial orientation, and market volatility on the degree of internationalization of SMEs in Oman. The study employs survey data collected from 150 SME owners and managers using a structured questionnaire having 27 items, and has been analyzed using correlation and logistic regression, as the dependent variable is binary in nature. The results reveal the impact of the chosen variables on the degree of internationalization of SMEs. The findings of the study suggest that network competency has the highest impact on degree of internationalization of Omani SMEs, followed by human capital and entrepreneurial orientation, while market volatility, though insignificant, moderated the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and degree of internationalization of Omani SMEs.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.173-181
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• 2019

The paper aims to evaluate the combination of strategies that influence the success of New Technology Based Firms (NTBFs) located in isolated areas with resource constraints. We utilize the Kauffman Firm Survey to construct a subset of 224 firms operating in primary metal manufacturing industries and who are located in non-thriving areas. We focus on the impact of technological strategy, in the form of Inward Technology Licensing (ITL), combined with financial strategy, in the form of increased financial slack. Using a negative binomial-specification technique to model these relations, we find that ITL positively impacts internal innovation in the firm and this relation is strengthened by the presence of greater financial slack. This positive impact of financial slack supports the behavioral theory of the firm rather than agency theory in that financial slack enables further innovation rather than stifling it. This research confirms the importance of resource acquisition, suggesting that entrepreneurs may utilize external sources of knowledge in an effort to build a favorable situation when facing the challenges of location. Finally, by presenting evidence showing the compatibility of a financial strategy with a knowledge strategy (ITL), this study emphasizes the importance to entrepreneurs of choosing the proper combination of varying strategies.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.201-210
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• 2021

COVID-19 presented the world with a severe loss of life and impact, which has no geographical bounds or expected time to when its effects will subside. It has affected countries across the globe, disrupting economic levels and businesses in every industry while also altering individuals' everyday lives. The current research aims to examine the impact of coronavirus pandemic on entrepreneur's business activities and their perceptions on the difference in consumer behavior during this time. The findings reveal the pandemic negatively impacted business productivity and profits, forcing many businesses to physically close permanently. Surprisingly, female entrepreneurs do not perceive a change in consumer behavior compared to pre-COVID-19 times. Interestingly, the results indicate there is a negative impact on employees' efficiency to conduct work in which almost no research has conveyed such a finding. For this purpose, a survey was conducted with 445 responses from male and female entrepreneurs in the capital city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, using a simple random sample over the period of four months. Ultimately, this research will help entrepreneurs gain more knowledge and a deeper understanding of this new environment necessary to undertaking certain measures and adaptability in order to sustain their businesses during unprecedented times.