Ramraini Ali Hassan

The effect of emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial attitude on entrepreneurial intention

This study aims to investigate the the role of emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial attitude in determining the entrepreneurial intention among students in private college in Sabah, Malaysia. Structured questionnaire instrument was used in this study. The respondent of this study was 213 students and was selected from private college in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Based on the results and findings of this study, the result revealed that trait EI which is also known as emotional self-efficacy has a relationship with entrepreneurial attitude as well as the intention. Besides that, the results of this study also reported that entrepreneurial attitude has a significant relationship with entrepreneurial intention. This study through its research and findings has contributed significantly to both theoretical and practical implications. The result of this study is believed to have contributed significantly towards the understanding of key factors on entrepreneurial intention particularly among students.

A Comparative Study on the Level of Strategic Thinking among Ethnic Entrepreneurs in Sabah

The success of entrepreneurs depends strongly on the ability of entrepreneurs to strategize their business against other competitors. This research compares the strategic thinking capabilities between the Bajaus, Bugis and Dusuns in Sabah, Malaysia. Pisapia’s measure for strategic thinking was used in this study to measure the strategic thinking levels among the Bajaus, Dusun, and Bugis entrepreneurs in Malaysia. A total of 92 Bajau, 41 Dusun and 64 Bugis entrepreneurs’ usable data managed to be collected by this study through convenience sampling. An interesting finding for this study is that the systematic thinking means of all the three groups of entrepreneurs are all on the low side with means of slightly above 2. One significant difference was found on reflective thinking between the Bajaus and the Dusuns with the Bajaus having the significantly lower scores. The results found in this study regarding strategic thinking can help the government plan training programs in entrepreneurship in Malaysia which can help bumiputera entrepreneurs especially those in Sabah close the gap with their Chinese counterparts and in the end increase the competitive advantage of all entrepreneurs in Malaysia.

Social Network and Students: The Correlation Between Usage on Academic Performance and Non-academic Engagement

Social network has attracted and gained popularity among educators and students in East Malaysia in order to facilitate teaching and learning. Social network allows people to connect with each other on shared interests, activities, characteristics, and information. Very few studies had been conducted in East Malaysia with regards to social network usage and its correlation with academic performance and non-academic engagement. With such development, this paper attempts to determine the relationship between social network on academic performance and non-academic performance among undergraduate students in local higher institutions of learning in East Malaysia. A total of 331 self-administered questionnaires were distributed and received from selected respondents. The analysis had indicated that social network had a positive correlation with academic performance and non-academic performance. Besides, there is also a positive correlation between non-academic engagement and academic performance. In accordance with the findings, it is vital to ensure the infrastructure for networking is up to par with the current development of teaching and learning. In addition, educators and students should be encouraged to indulge deeper in using social network for the betterment of teaching and learning.

Factors that Contributes Towards Opportunity Creation and Identification

Organizational sustainability has been a major theme in shaping global business arena in which entrepreneurship as the cornerstone. This also has forced entrepreneurship to become an important driver to the government initiative to implant entrepreneurial competencies as its organizational culture. In relation to the development, public universities are urged to diversify their income generation from various sources as to promote financial sustainability through entrepreneurship. Therefore, the readiness of the members of the organization for such environment is crucial. It is important for the university to engage with opportunity identification or creation as it can lead to income generation and profitability. This paper examined the relationship between entrepreneurial competency, social capital, experience and knowledge with opportunity identification and creation. Both academic and non-academic staffs were involved in the study. Findings show that entrepreneurial competency, social capital, experience and knowledge found to be positively significant towards opportunity identification and creation.

Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use of E-Commerce Adoption among Entrepreneurs in Sabah

This research based its conceptual framework on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which includes Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use as the variables of the study. The external variable or independent variables chosen for this research were Demographic Profile and Entrepreneurial Characteristics. Age, Ethnicity and Education Level were chosen as the dimensions to be analyzed in Demographic Profile while Need for Achievement, Risk-taking Ability and Locus of Control were the chosen dimensions for Entrepreneurial Characteristics. A total of 290 questionnaires have been distributed via email to all the possible respondents whom are established business owners regardless brick-and-mortal, brick-and-click, or click only business in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. However, only 170 useable responses were received and used for analysis. From the results obtained, demographic profile was not found to be significant while entrepreneurial characteristics were found to be related to Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use of e-commerce.