Title: Tracking the cyber entrepreneurial intention of private universities students in Malaysia

Authors: Norhazlin Ismail; Nahariah Jaffar; Shereen Khan; Tan Swee Leng

Addresses: Faculty of Management, Multimedia University, Persiaran Multimedia, 63100 Cyberjaya, Malaysia. ' Faculty of Management, Multimedia University, Persiaran Multimedia, 63100 Cyberjaya, Malaysia. ' Faculty of Management, Multimedia University, Persiaran Multimedia, 63100 Cyberjaya, Malaysia. ' Faculty of Management, Multimedia University, Persiaran Multimedia, 63100 Cyberjaya, Malaysia

Abstract: Cyber entrepreneurial interest is a term used to describe the readiness and willingness to become an internet-based self-entrepreneur. Cyber entrepreneurship is a new source of economic growth and development. With an increase in number of students graduated, opting cyber entrepreneurship as a career is essential not only to reduce unemployment rate but it can also provide additional source of income in line with an increasing cost of living. We believe the individual's utility from any particular job including cyber entrepreneurship depends not only on income but also on the interest and working conditions such as decision making control, risk exposure, work effort, etc. Thus, this paper reports preliminary results of an ongoing project to track cyber entrepreneurial intention of private universities students. The study used a self-administered questionnaire to capture the extent to which private universities students might wish to create their own cyber business upon graduation. The findings reveal that only risk attitude contributes to the prediction of self-employment intention and strong levels of self-employment intention are related to low levels of cyber entrepreneurial intention.

Keywords: cyber entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial intentions; self-employment intentions; risk attitudes; internal control; achievement motivation; entrepreneurial attitudes; private university students; private universities; higher education; self-entrepreneurs; world wide web; economic growth; economic development; unemployment rates; additional incomes; income sources; working conditions; decision making controls; risk exposure; work effort; cyber business; Monash University; Sunway University; University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; internet-based entrepreneurs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2012.050169

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2012 Vol.17 No.4, pp.538 - 546

Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

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