Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship and Innovative Technology

The small and medium enterprise (SME) sector is considered the backbone of an economy. The sustainable growth of the SME sector is crucial for industrial development, employment creation, import substitution, export promotion, and the economic uplift of any country, especially developing economies. However, due to resource constraints in a developing economy, it is difficult to industrialize to a large extent. For this purpose, developing special economic zones (SEZs) in a country’s selected areas is considered the second-best option to efficiently boost investment and effectively develop the industrial/manufacturing sector. Against the backdrop, this study attempts to probe the possible synergies between prioritized special economic zones (pSEZs) under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and SMEs through backward linkages, resource mobilization, and knowledge spillover to uplift the country’s domestic economy (dominated by SMEs and SEZs). The study modifies and employs the Warr’s enclave approach to depict the possible competing and complementing effects of pSEZs on SMEs and concludes that a balanced approach to developing synergy between pSEZs and SMEs is required to increase local investment in the domestic economy as well as attract foreign capital inflows/foreign direct investment (FDI) in pSEZs to complement the SME sector and revitalize industrialization.

The reality of women’s entrepreneurship differs according to contexts. This study aims to highlight the realities of women’s entrepreneurship in the context of rural areas of Sabah, Malaysia. The discussion is contextualised based on the experiences of single-mother entrepreneurs—a group rarely being highlighted within women as a heterogeneous group. The significance of entrepreneurial activities in overcoming the financial hardship faced by single mothers in rural areas is well accepted by many developing nations. This strategy is seen as relevant for single mothers to overcome the economic pressure of life while also helping to resolve the issue of poverty among single mothers. Therefore, this study explores how single-mother entrepreneurs construct their entrepreneurial experiences and the extent to which the experiences have influenced the financial well-being of their families. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with eight single-mother entrepreneurs in the rural areas of Sabah were conducted. The idea of single mothers as a significant group in necessities entrepreneurship is established. Considering that the issue of poverty in Sabah is critical, the involvement of single mothers as necessity entrepreneurs could have an impact on the state’s economic development. The financial hardship that women experience when they first become single mothers persists throughout their single motherhood lives, indicating the financial vulnerability of single-mother entrepreneurs. It is suggested that the key to achieving the financial well-being of single-mother entrepreneurs lies in a comprehensive and unique institutional strategy of its own.

Customers are willing to pay extra for environmentally friendly goods and services, which is providing new challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs. This study intends to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on Industry 4.0 (I4.0) practices of small and medium-sized businesses in light of this scenario and to analyze the mediating role of enviropreneurial marketing (EM) strategy between EO and I4.0 practices. Drawing upon the resource advantage theory and the dynamic capability view (DCV), a framework is developed. A survey approach is adopted to collect data from the owners/managers of 257 electrical and electronics (E&E) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. To test the study hypotheses, structural equation modeling (SEM) using the partial least squares (PLS) technique is adopted. The findings reveal that enviropreneurial orientation and enviropreneurial marketing strategy have positively influenced Industry 4.0 practices in the SMEs of an emerging economy. Furthermore, the results highlight that enviropreneurial marketing strategy positively transmits the effect of enviropreneurial orientation to I4.0 practices. The study outcomes offer some novel contributions and implications to practitioners and researchers.

Consumers today are more concerned about the environment and are moving towards a greener market, resulting in a rise in demand for environmentally responsible products. In this regard, the current study aims to examine the impact of green entrepreneurship on the sustainable development of entrepreneurship education among undergraduates at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK). This study reviews existing literature on green entrepreneurship and sustainable entrepreneurship education development before constructing a research framework. A questionnaire is then used to collect primary data. Three hundred forty-six data were collected from Universiti Malaysia Kelantan students via an online survey using a convenience sample. To analyse the data, the Pearson correlation coefficient and a reliability test were conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings indicate that the independent variables, namely, the professional development of entrepreneurship education, the integration of sustainability into the academic curriculum, an increase in financial support, enhancement towards establishing and straightening green culture, and the expansion of green buildings and facilities, are significant to the UMK study. Lastly, the effect of the green market on sustainable development and green entrepreneurship has not been thoroughly studied. This study aims to highlight the existing literature on green sustainable development education for entrepreneurs.

Green entrepreneurship is a crucial aspect of sustainable development goals. In exploring this discipline, the primary objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between green entrepreneurial intention and sustainable reporting. A quantitative research approach is used to explain the relationship. Data were collected from questionnaire surveys among student entrepreneurs who were running their businesses during their undergraduate study at a public university in Malaysia. For statistical analysis, correlation and descriptive analyses are conducted. Stratified random sampling is adopted for the sampling technique. The data were examined with IBM SPSS Statistics. Consequently, the vast majority of independent variables and dependent variables have a significant relationship. This study found that green product innovation, process innovation, service innovation, and technology innovation as green entrepreneurial intentions are significantly correlated to sustainability reporting.

The present study aims to explore the behavioral intention of utilizing information and communication technology (ICT), which is considered a vital component of organizational strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The widespread use of ICT has become indispensable in modern life, contributing significantly to business performance, growth, and competitiveness. However, microenterprises face challenges in fully leveraging the potential benefits of ICT due to their limited understanding and skills in managing and implementing these technologies. To address this issue, the study investigates the barriers to effective ICT use in microenterprises and identifies ways to enhance their performance. The questionnaire is distributed to microenterprise owners, consisting of students who have established their own businesses under Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Entrepreneurship Institute. The study recommends expanding the use of ICT in business and developing a comprehensive understanding of ICT in business to improve microenterprise performance and keep pace with cutting-edge technology.

This study investigated the impact of digital entrepreneurship in the food delivery industry on customer satisfaction through the functional and technical quality of food delivery mobile applications. Customer satisfaction is a critical component in quality management, and it is crucial to identify the needs and expectations of various customer segments. This study considered the quality of application functionality (ease of use, quality of information) and technical quality (quality of delivered services, quality of delivered food) as factors affecting customer satisfaction. A quantitative research design was employed, and primary data was collected through an online survey given randomly to 382 students of the UMK City Campus. IBM SPSS Statistics was used to analyze the data, and multiple regression analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses. The study findings suggest that the functional and technical quality of food delivery mobile application services significantly influences customer satisfaction. This study concludes that digital entrepreneurship has revolutionized the food delivery industry and presents new opportunities for entrepreneurs to innovate and succeed in the market. This study has implications for food and beverage entrepreneurs, food delivery service providers, riders, and researchers interested in exploring the impact of digital entrepreneurship in the food delivery industry on customer satisfaction.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is frequently referred to as technological systems. Companies assist in griping external customer engagement at all customer life cycle stages, from discovery to education, purchase, and post-purchase. Social media is one approach of CRM that companies can adopt to trends that benefit their bottom line. However, the lack of current studies concerns CRM research. This study determines the roles of CRM in stimulating cyberpreneurship in Malaysia by determining the nexus between pricing strategy, quality assurance, customer engagement, purchase intention, and CRM. Quantitative research methods were used to collect empirical data from 340 selected online shoppers through purposive sampling techniques. Data were collected through questionnaires and initially analyzed descriptive statistics, validity, reliability, and normality test using IBM SPSS Statistics. The study hypotheses were analyzed using multiple linear regression, which confirmed that pricing strategy, assurance, customer engagement, and purchase intention directly affect customer relationship management. By examining the relationship between CRM and these digital marketing factors, the study provides insights into how cyberpreneurs can leverage CRM tools and strategies to enhance their online business activities. The findings can help cyberpreneurs understand the importance of implementing CRM systems, optimizing sales and marketing efforts, and improving customer retention in digital entrepreneurship. Therefore, this study contributes to understanding how CRM can support and drive cyberpreneurship endeavors in the digital marketplace

Women have always been praised for standing behind the successes of their men, but not the other way around. Due to various factors, including equal access to education, more and more women have an important and dominant role in socioeconomic activities and are more successful than their husbands. As a wife, a caring husband is essential to advancing a competitive woman, yet so little is being researched about his role. Against this background, this work investigates how husbands render the support and how do successful women entrepreneurs perceive the support as enhancing their success in their business. Altogether, five women entrepreneurs in Kelantan were selected for the study. The findings show that women entrepreneurs’ support from their husbands helped sustain the wives’ business aspirations. Data collected revealed that not much instrumental support was rendered other than occasionally helping to look after the shops. Emotional support was the main support provided by the husbands, and it came in the form of giving suggestions and options and sharing ideas about business. Egalitarianism, tradition, and culture of Kelantan influenced how the husbands rendered their support and how the wives perceived the support they received. Women entrepreneurs were grateful that their husbands allowed them to manage their businesses as they thought fit. In other words, their husbands’ noninterference in their daily business operations is a blessing.

Students have serious difficulties making career decisions in the present economic and social climate. Since the unemployment rate among college students may be effectively mitigated by entrepreneurial efforts, having an entrepreneurial mindset is crucial. Given this context, this article explores how families might best support kids in developing long-term, financially viable entrepreneurial goals. Twenty-five articles were selected from Scopus data after a careful search and evaluation. The study aimed to dissect how the model influenced the formation of hypotheses. The results demonstrate a strong correlation between kids’ entrepreneurial aspirations and their families’ business experiences and encouragement. It shows that these factors are crucial in encouraging long-term entrepreneurial motivation in pupils. The results also provided a novel understanding of how parental role modelling and financial literacy might inspire long-term entrepreneurial motivation in adolescents. Furthermore, the research suggests that entrepreneurship education be supported since it effectively stimulates student entrepreneurial intent.

The research objective was focused on the possible business opportunities for the young generation entrepreneurs in Kelantan, one of the states in Malaysia. The youth in Malaysia focuses their career on small-scale businesses, like food trucks, delivery services, finance services, textiles, and beauty clinics in Kelantan. The break-even point in the small-scale business sustainability was very difficult to manage. The youth won’t consider the real world and are in the imagination of high profits in the initial stages of the business, in that few of the young generation entrepreneurs are successes, and most of them are drop out of their small-scale businesses. The research focused on the possible opportunities for the youth in Kelantan to adopt the microentrepreneur through survey methods, and the data was analyzed with the percentage method.

The Malaysian state of Kelantan boasts a vibrant entrepreneurial landscape, with women at the forefront, driving economic growth through their businesses. However, many women entrepreneurs face a common obstacle: a lack of formal education, leaving them inadequately equipped to navigate the evolving economy and technological advancements. Financial illiteracy, particularly concerning informal business practices, restricts their potential to achieve economies of scale and hinders their ability to make informed financial decisions, thus impeding business growth and expansion. Despite these challenges, the spirit of entrepreneurship and determination to provide for their families has driven many women to become primary breadwinners. This paper highlights the critical issue of financial literacy among women business owners in Kelantan and its impact on their capacity to access finance, secure loans, and make sound financial decisions. As many of these women entrepreneurs operate informal businesses, their growth potential is limited, hindering their ability to contribute substantially to the economy. To foster a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem, targeted financial literacy programs must be developed to equip women entrepreneurs with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage their finances effectively, enabling long-term growth and financial inclusion. In conclusion, this chapter emphasizes women entrepreneurs’ challenges due to financial exclusion and proposes solutions to help them adapt to digital finance. Empowering women through financial literacy, mentorship, and supportive policies will contribute to a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in Kelantan and foster sustainable economic growth.