Young Entrepreneurs' Digital Business Performance in Malaysia: Examining the Influence of Institutional Framework, Need for Achievement, and Global Market Orientation
Keywords:
Business Performance, Regulative Structure, Normative Structure, Cognitive Structure, Need for Achievement, Global Market OrientationAbstract
The transformation brought about by digitization is no longer a luxury but a necessity for businesses that have faced various challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study aims to understand how regulative, normative, and cognitive structures could affect digital business performance. Entrepreneurs with high achievement and market orientation will gain a competitive advantage and high performance. Thus, the study's second objective is to examine the mediating influence of the need for achievement and global market orientation on the relationships between regulative, normative, and cognitive structures and youth digital business performance. This study employs a cross-sectional survey design. This study employed a purposive sampling technique, and a structured questionnaire was administered among 500 registered youth-owned small businesses in Malaysia. The final data of 457 young entrepreneurs were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Accordingly, the first finding discovered significant and positive impacts of regulative, normative, and cognitive structures on youth digital business performance. The results also confirm that the relationship between regulative, normative, and cognitive structure on youth digital business performance is mediated by the need for achievement. On the other hand, global market orientation mediates the relationship between regulative and youth digital business performance. This study has several theoretical and practical implications for studies related to youth entrepreneurship and the application of institutional theory in the field of entrepreneurship. This study rationalizes the elements of institutional theory, such as the need for achievement, and a global context, namely market orientation. The findings also suggest strengthening existing entrepreneurship ecosystems to enhance the business capabilities, competencies, and knowledge of young entrepreneurs.
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