AN INTERPRETIVE CASE OF FIVE SUCCESSFUL MALAY ENTREPRENEURS

Ummi Salwa Ahmad Bustamam (BBA, MBA)

A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Graduate School of Management Faculty of Law and Management

La Trobe University Bundoora, Victoria 3086 Australia

June 2011

ABSTRACT Entrepreneurship involves not only the process that leads to the setting up of a business but also the expansion and development of an on-going concern. While entrepreneurial process is a complex process, it is vital in understanding the entrepreneurial growth. Moreover, development of a model or theory to explain entrepreneurial process is desirable to unlock the mystery of entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study is to understand the motives of Malay entrepreneurs for business growth, how they identify, design and enact strategies for growth, and the challenges, obstacles and barriers they face in expanding their business enterprises in the dynamic and challenging business environment of Malaysia. Using five Malay entrepreneurial cases, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted and their narratives were reported. Based in Malaysia, the study investigates Islamic business values and perspectives as the context of study is a Muslim country. This study further utilises Miles and Snows strategic typology to provide greater understanding of the Malay entrepreneurs growth strategy as the typologies are a prominent framework to identify strategies deployed among small business entrepreneurs. Commencing within-case and cross-case analysis, emerged themes reveal that pride and selfefficacy as the major drivers for the five Malay entrepreneurs business growth. An emergent integrated model of Malay entrepreneurial growth is developed consisting of opportunity recognition, information search, resource acquisition, and business strategy which ultimately lead to business growth. This study adds to the body of knowledge in four ways. First, the study explores Malay entrepreneurs growth process in-depth. Second, the study provides insights into Malay entrepreneurs growth strategies using different analytical lenses to describe their activities, first from the Islamic values perspective, and second from Miles and Snows strategic typology. Ironically, the Miles and Snows strategic typology was utilised as an interpretive instrument for the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory. Third, the study has utilised case study as a catalyst for qualitative research as proposed by current research methods. Furthermore, this study adopts an idiographic explanation to present unique Malay entrepreneurial stories and experiences. Finally, the study proposes a theory which concludes that a universal theory of entrepreneurship is not desirable, particularly in the context of this study. This is due to cultural and religious specific differences which influence Malay entrepreneurs and their growth strategies.