Title: The effect of leadership style and motivation element on entrepreneurial tendencies amongst students at a public higher education institution

Authors: Norhasni Zainal Abiddin

Addresses: Faculty of Defence Studies and Management, National Defence University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract: Various leadership strategies and styles have evolved into commercial practises over the last few years, but the problem of finding the suitable leadership style, particularly for university students in Malaysia, remains unsolved. Therefore, this study is to identify the type of leadership style and motivation with entrepreneurial tendencies of students at the National Defence University of Malaysia (NDUM). A total of 350 undergraduate students completed the questionnaire through the online platform. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential analysis. According to the findings, the dominating leadership style is democratic, and the biggest motivating aspect is the desire for personal achievement. The highest entrepreneurial tendency element was locus control. The research findings also show that the three factors can create an effective environment in which students can understand their leadership style and further build a network to plan the future in enterprise and entrepreneurship in order to strengthen human resources in Malaysia's industry and education sectors.

Keywords: leadership style; quantitative method; motivation; entrepreneurial tendencies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2023.136298

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2023 Vol.15 No.6, pp.560 - 574

Received: 20 Oct 2023
Accepted: 27 Oct 2023
Published online: 26 Jan 2024 *

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