Title: Providing organisational support for corporate entrepreneurship: evidence from a Malaysian family firm

Authors: Michael Mustafa

Addresses: The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Abstract: This paper seeks to offer an understanding of the various organisational support factors that can support corporate entrepreneurship in Malaysian family firms. A qualitative in-depth case study identified organisational support factors of management support for idea generation and tolerance for risk taking as sufficient to encourage corporate entrepreneurship in Malaysian family firms, and three additional factors (training and development, emphasis on open communication, and direct family member involvement) emerge as important to supporting corporate entrepreneurship activity. Additionally findings also suggest that both the family and the Malaysian context can affect how organisational support for corporate entrepreneurship is organised and implemented. The findings from the study contribute to a context-sensitive analysis of the organisational support factors for corporate entrepreneurship, culminating in more nuanced understanding of how corporate entrepreneurship might come about and be supported within medium-sized family firms.

Keywords: corporate entrepreneurship; family firms; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; Malaysia; organisational support; family culture; family businesses; idea generation; risk taking; training; personal development; open communication; family involvement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2015.070216

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2015 Vol.25 No.4, pp.414 - 441

Received: 25 Sep 2014
Accepted: 08 Dec 2014
Published online: 29 Jun 2015 *

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