The human capital and opportunity discovery on exploiting entrepreneurial opportunity among rural entrepreneurs

• Main Authors: Ahmad, Abd. Razak, Mohd. Osman, Mohd. Hassan, Ismail, Kamariah, Wan Yusoff, Wan Fauziah
• Format: Article
• Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016
• Subjects: HF Commerce
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/74119/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84976877566&partnerID=40&md5=6209c93b667dc02fd9a021948deb0623

This study aims to explore the process of opportunity in rural entrepreneurship in Malaysia. Specifically this study tries to identify relationship of exploiting entrepreneurial opportunity, entrepreneurial opportunity discovery and human capital of rural entrepreneurs, and to determine direct and joint effect of entrepreneurial human capital on exploiting entrepreneurial opportunity for Malaysian rural entrepreneurs. To achieve the objectives of this study, a quantitative survey was conducted on 345 respondents (Malaysia rural entrepreneurs). Data collected from the survey was analysed using SPSS version 20 for descriptive analysis and SmartPLS version 2.0 software for inferential analysis to explore the related variables. The survey revealed that at 0.01 significant level, human capital has a positive relationship with exploiting entrepreneurial opportunity and direct effect to entrepreneurial opportunity discovery. The study concludes that entrepreneurial human capital and opportunity discovery play important roles that contribute to the new venture creation in rural entrepreneurship. This research makes a significant contribution on rural entrepreneurship field, especially in relations to rural opportunity entrepreneurship.