Entrepreneurial orientation of public enterprises in Malaysia

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to gauge the extent to which public enterprises in Malaysia demonstrate entrepreneurial orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

A face‐to‐face survey was initiated to obtain data directly from top management of public enterprises.

Findings

The results of the investigation reveal that public enterprises seemed to concentrate on incremental aspect of the marketing of true and tried products/services. Although these companies appeared to have a strong emphasis on R&D initiatives, but most of these initiatives focused on development side of the activities. In addition, the results of the study indicate that the extent to which public enterprises respond to action initiated by competitors; become the first to introduce new product/services and/or “undo the competitor posture” appeared to be quite low. On the other hand, public enterprises tended to focus on low risk projects. Hence, they prefer to explore and exploit the unknown gradually and will act when certainty exits.

Research limitations/implications

The findings in this study were drawn from top management of public enterprises. Future studies should include more of top management team. Given the hostility and competitive of today's business environments, future studies should explore the extent to which entrepreneurial orientation of firm will influence public enterprises' entrepreneurial activities.

Practical implications

Given the outcomes of the study, managers may note that firm performance is associated with the degree of its entrepreneurial orientation.

Originality/value

Previous studies on entrepreneurial orientation concentrated on private entities. This paper extends the domain of entrepreneurial orientation into government business enterprises.

Citation

Entebang, H., Harrison, R.T. and Cyril de Run, E. (2010), "Entrepreneurial orientation of public enterprises in Malaysia", Business Strategy Series, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 75-77. https://doi.org/10.1108/17515631011026371