The Intention to Engage in Digital Entrepreneurship : the Undergraduate Perspective

Lim, Koon Hui (2021) The Intention to Engage in Digital Entrepreneurship : the Undergraduate Perspective. Masters thesis, Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

In the digitalisation era, the synergies between the speedy IT development and the shifting paradigms of economic transactions has formed the arisen of digital entrepreneurship. The massive usage of IT in business world applies a significant influence on various possibilities for developing entrepreneurship based on IT. The Malaysian Youth Council (MBM) in collaboration with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Celcom Axiata has created a smart and digital entrepreneur hub, aimed at providing new employment opportunities for youth, especially in digital entrepreneurship. Thus, digital entrepreneurship is expected to be the key in growing the economy and the average incomes of Malaysian in the foreseeable future. In this context, this research paper access the factors affecting the intention of the business faculty students from private and public universities in Malaysia to engage in the digital entrepreneurship. A survey involving 302 final year undergraduate (bachelor degree) business students which can be considered as future entrepreneurs. The data collected in the present research are then analysed using SPSS and PLS-SEM. Moreover, this paper employed the Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour, Davis’s Technology Acceptance Model and Bauer’s Perceived Risk Theory which served as the outset to developed the proposed conceptual model. The relationship between the attitude towards IT, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, perceived risk and intention towards digital entrepreneurship were accessed to identify the factors affecting the acceptance of digital entrepreneurship. The results highlighted that the proposed model explained 46.867% of total variance in the intention of the fresh graduates to engage in digital entrepreneurship. The present also revealed that perceived usefulness factors influenced significantly in the fresh graduates’ intention towards digital entrepreneurship. However, perceived risk factor were found to have no significant impact on the fresh graduates’ intention. Furthermore, this study generates valuable information on future digital entrepreneurs in the age of the digital economy that are beneficial for the decision makers and policymakers in Malaysia.