Purpose: This study aims to examine the effect of entrepreneurial skills, market orientation, sales orientations and networking on entrepreneurial competency and performance of micro-enterprises in Kelantan, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting a cross-sectional design, this paper collected data through structured interviews from 403 micro-entrepreneurs from “Majlis Amanah Rakyat,” Kelantan and “Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Istiadat,” Kelantan. Findings: The findings reveal that entrepreneurial skills, market orientation and networking have a positive effect on entrepreneurial competency. Then, entrepreneurial competency, entrepreneurial skills and networking have a positive effect on enterprise performance. The findings show a significant mediation effect of entrepreneurial competency on the relationships between entrepreneurial skills, market orientation and networking and enterprise performance. Originality/value: Addressing the understudied “human factor” in entrepreneurship, this paper extends the resource-based view and enriches the existing entrepreneurship literature in Malaysia. It provides useful insights into the improvement of micro-enterprise performance, which is crucial for promoting entrepreneurial activities and for enhancing socio-economic conditions among low-income households in Malaysia. Thus, the government and developmental organizations should focus on the development of entrepreneurial skills, market-oriented approach, networking traits and entrepreneurial competencies and subsequently encourage poor households to perform entrepreneurial activities.

Social capital and its dimensions are highly interrelated, and the outcome of social capital provides entrepreneurs with resources and knowledge that are not available in the first place. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of relational and cognitive social capital on structural social capital and the effect of structural social capital on the performance of micro-enterprises owned and managed by women in Peninsular Malaysia. This study uses a cross-sectional approach, and quantitative data are collected through structured interviews. It was found that cognitive social capital has a significant positive effect on structural social capital, and structural social capital has a significant positive effect on micro-enterprise performance. It was found that relational social capital has a positive but insignificant effect on structural social capital. Therefore, women entrepreneurs should emphasize on making the communication process easier and on ensuring that their business values, norms, interpretation, and meaning are shared and communicated to relevant parties to improve network ties and to build a dense network, which is essential in providing access to resources and knowledge. This, in return, is expected to improve the micro-enterprise performance in Malaysia.

Small to medium-sized enterprises suffer from loss of competitive advantage, low productivity, and poor performance because of inadequate competencies. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to examine the effect of selected motivational dimensions (i.e., self-improvement, self-confidence, openness to change, pull factors, and the need for achievement) on entrepreneurial competency among micro-entrepreneurs. We used a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from 403 micro-entrepreneurs in Malaysia using random sampling. SEM-PLS was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that self-confidence, openness to change, and pull factors positively influenced entrepreneurial competencies. Moreover, there was a positive effect of self-confidence, pull factors, need for achievement, and entrepreneurial competency on enterprise sustainability performance. Furthermore, entrepreneurial competencies significantly mediated the effect of self-confidence, openness to change, and pull factors on enterprise sustainability performance. Apart from extending the lens of a resource-based view, this study enriches enterprise sustainability literature from emerging nations’ perspective. Policymakers can strengthen their programs and policies to improve the entrepreneurial competencies of micro-entrepreneurs and their business sustainability.

Purpose: Entrepreneurial activities are embedded within the networks of social relationships, which facilitate the flow of crucial information and resources. This study aims to examine the effect of social capital (i.e. structural, cognitive and relational), entrepreneurial competencies (i.e. commitment, conceptual and organizing) and micro-enterprise innovativeness (i.e. innovativeness and absorptive capacity) on the competitive advantages of the micro-enterprises owned and managed by women micro-entrepreneurs in Peninsular Malaysia.Design/methodology/approach: This study used a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from 417 women micro-entrepreneurs from six selected states in Peninsular Malaysia through structured interview. For data analysis, this study adopted variance-based structural equation modeling, i.e. PLS-SEM.Findings: The findings of this study revealed a significant positive effect of social capital on entrepreneurial competencies, innovativeness and competitive advantage. The findings also revealed a significant positive effect of entrepreneurial competencies on innovativeness and competitive advantage.Originality/value: The government and other development agencies working toward enterprise development in Malaysia should therefore focus on designing a platform for women micro-entrepreneurs to promote the development of structural and relational social capital, which foster the flow of crucial information and resources necessary for suitable micro-enterprise performance.

Social media has been identified as a platform for student entrepreneurs to sell products and services, and to interact and connect with customers. However, the factors contributing to the adoption of social media as a platform among student entrepreneurs in Malaysia have not been established. This article aims to identify factors affecting the adoption of social media as a business platform among student entrepreneurs in Malaysia. This study employed a cross-sectional design and quantitative data was collected from 300 selected student entrepreneurs listed in the ‘entrepreneurship centres’ in all public universities in Peninsular Malaysia. Findings suggest that performance expectancy, perceived trust, perceived enjoyment and perceived risk have a significant positive effect on the adoption of social media. It is noted that there is a significant positive moderating effect of social influence between the relationship of facilitating conditions and the adoption of social media. Student entrepreneurs adopt social media as a business platform if they believe it improves their performance. Risk and trust are the most important factors influencing the adoption of social media as a business platform. Based on the findings, government agencies should promote social media as a business platform by instilling trust in the system with the hope that it will positively affect students’ entrepreneurial activities using social media as a business platform.