Title: Profiling entrepreneurial commitment across cultures: a Malaysian perspective

Authors: Rahayu Tasnim; Nomahaza Mahadi; Harcharanjit Singh; Roselina Ahmad Saufi

Addresses: International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Level 10, Menara Razak, Jalan Yahya Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Level 10, Menara Razak, Jalan Yahya Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Level 10, Menara Razak, Jalan Yahya Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Level 10, Menara Razak, Jalan Yahya Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract: Is it true that certain cultures are known to illustrate higher levels of commitment to their businesses, hence complimented for their entrepreneurial triumph? And does this mean that certain cultures behave less committed to their businesses, occasioning lower entrepreneurial success? This pioneering study acknowledges the possibility of measuring entrepreneurial commitment, and seeks to characterise the psychological construct of 'commitment' in entrepreneurs across three major cultures in Malaysia - Malays, Chinese and Indians. The entrepreneurial commitment model was applied using the PLS-MGA approach to analyse the changes in the magnitude of commitment across all three cultures. Changes in the magnitude of affective, normative and continuous commitments were detected, portraying the uniqueness of certain components of commitment to certain cultures. A change in the magnitude of total entrepreneurial commitment was also seen, with the Chinese illustrating the highest, while both the Malays and Indians sharing similar levels. What this study puts forward signals the importance of acknowledging the fact that entrepreneurial commitment is measurable and that it can be profiled accordingly.

Keywords: entrepreneurial commitment; entrepreneurship and culture; Malaysian entrepreneurs; PLS-multi-group analysis; PLS-MGA; Malaysia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2018.092024

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2018 Vol.34 No.2, pp.148 - 168

Received: 22 Apr 2016
Accepted: 30 Jun 2016
Published online: 30 May 2018 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article