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This chapter examines the role extracurricular activities have in developing higher education (HE) student’s entrepreneurial competencies and capabilities. Specifically, this chapter examines: What type of students participate in extracurricular activities? Why do students choose to participate? and What activities offer for entrepreneurial competency and capability development. An electronic survey (e-survey) collected pre- and post-data from two groups: Group A – students participating in extracurricular enterprise and entrepreneurship (EEEx) activities (n = 119); and Group B – students engaged in non-enterprise-related extracurricular activities (n = 72). Findings indicated that students in both groups were motivated to engage in extracurricular activities to enhance their skills, fulfil personal interests and enhance their employability. Utilising Morris, Webb, Fu, and Singhal’s (2013) entrepreneurial competencies list as a model, there were found to increase in all but one competency (creativity) for Group A, yet for the control group, most competencies decreased. Independent sample T-tests demonstrated that there was no significant difference in the final ratings of entrepreneurial capability between Group A and Group B, however, the degree of improvement for perceived entrepreneurial capability, pre-to-post, for those participating in enterprise activities was substantially higher than the control group. Finally, students participating in EEEx activities were more likely female, studying a programme within the Business School, and in the second or final stage of their programme. This chapter demonstrates the value that EEEx activities provide in a competency context for students and tasks educators with considering how to develop and signpost specific entrepreneurial competencies and capabilities.

The basic role in the development of the national economy of each country plays their citizens – their entrepreneurs. Preparation of the society for entrepreneurial activities takes place during the education process. In the Polish National Development Program for years 2007–2013 the development of entrepreneurial competencies was prioritised to increase the competitiveness of the economy.

In this chapter a set of features referred to as entrepreneurial competencies was developed. They were divided into four groups, that is, technical, social, economic and managerial. In addition, the literature on entrepreneurship education was reviewed. The empirical part presents the results of own analysis on the methods for developing entrepreneurial competencies which are preferred by students and widely used at Polish universities in four fields of study: humanities, technical, natural and economic studies.

The research results show that the humanities rather do not attach significance to the analysed competencies. Studies in economics include them, but their educational programmes focus primarily on shaping a group of technical competencies. The method most often indicated by all groups of respondents as effective in developing individual entrepreneurial competencies was discussion. The project method came in second, and coaching in third place. Meanwhile, the lecture method still dominates in the educational practice in all fields of study.

This chapter presents the results of the original research project, which are guidelines for all responsible for shaping study programmes and deciding about the educational methods.

Entrepreneurial orientation is among the vital factors that contribute to performance, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, the empirical studies provide mixed results and call for new studies to examine this relationship. Therefore, this study aims to determine the entrepreneurial orientation's (EO) direct and indirect impact (via entrepreneurial competencies) on firm performance. Additionally, the moderating role of environmental dynamism is also tested in entrepreneurial competencies and firm performance relationships.

The data (N = 332) were collected from managerial rank employees, using a self-administered questionnaire, working in different SMEs in Pakistan. In addition, structural equation modeling (SEM) was executed using SmartPLS 3.2.

The study's results demonstrate that EO positively influences entrepreneurial competencies and firm performance, and entrepreneurial competencies also mediate the relationship between EO and performance. Additionally, environmental dynamism strengthens the positive relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and performance.

This study identifies that entrepreneurial competency is the missing link between EO and firm performance, due to which the relationship between them is indecisive. This study also contributes to the contingency perspective by explaining the role of environmental dynamism as a boundary condition in strengthening the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and SMEs' performance in an emerging economy.

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model that explains how necessity and opportunity start-up motivation affects firm performance among women entrepreneurs (WEs) through the mediating influences of motivation to learn (MtL) and women entrepreneurial competencies (WEC).

Necessity (NEC) and Opportunity (OPP) motivation is used as the guiding theory to acknowledge the contraries of women entrepreneurial motivation. Female Entrepreneurial Competency (FEC) framework is used as a basis for WEC. Embedded in this reasoning, MtL and FECs are integrated into the conceptual model to understand the connection between start-up motivation and business performance among WEs in a developing economy.

To date, there is a limited understanding of how learning motivation and competencies together explain the business performance of WEs through the lens of their differences in start-up motivation. In this respect, this conceptual model advances scholarly insights by conceptualizing the relationship between NEC and OPP motivation, and business performance through the mediating influences of MtL and WECs.

The proposed conceptual model does not consider any aspects other than entrepreneurial motivation, learning motivation and competencies related to business performance such as access to finance, sociocultural aspects and personality traits.

The proposed conceptual model can contribute to academics by adding to the body of knowledge on women entrepreneurship. It can also aid policymakers in understanding the critical link between differentials in start-up motivation and firm performance through the mediating influences of learning motivation and competencies, thus potentially providing a basis for formulating focused skilling strategies for WEs.

This paper proposes a unique conceptual framework that incorporates theories of learning motivation and FECs to examine the critical link between start-up motivation and business performance among WE.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate entrepreneurial competencies of students in practicums within departments of electrical engineering and computer sciences (EECS) in universities of technology. In total, 71 faculty members who advised in entrepreneurial competitions in universities of technology were participants in the questionnaire survey to find the entrepreneurial competencies during practicums of the EECS students.

Analysis was carried out based on the literatures related to off-campus internship in universities of technology and entrepreneurship competency. Then, through the questionnaire survey, the authors can understand what the entrepreneurial abilities should have when they after off-campus internships. The entrepreneurship competency expected of off-campus internship students within EECS was analyzed to derive at the important conclusion in this study.

As the results of this study, the authors found that entrepreneurial processes, entrepreneurial traits/behaviors, communications and interpersonal skills, and digital skills are the entrepreneurial competencies that are emphasized during practicums.

The paper suggests that, first, the EECS students take up innovative entrepreneurship programs and take electives such as marketing management, financial management, and related business administration courses. Second, respective universities of technology and internship organizations may co-arrange the incorporation of project-based learning (PBL), PBL into the internship work content. Third, establishing a platform that bridges communication for off-campus internship students.

Business Plan Competitions (BPCs) are readily prescribed and promoted as a valuable entrepreneurial learning activity on university campuses worldwide. There is an acceptance of their value despite the clear lack of empirical attention on the learning experience of nascent entrepreneurs during and post-participation in university-based BPCs. To address this deficit, the purpose of this paper is to explore how participation in a university-based BPC affords entrepreneurial learning outcomes, through the development of competencies, amongst nascent entrepreneurs.

Underpinned by a constructivist paradigm, a longitudinal qualitative methodological approach was adopted. In-depth interviews with nascent entrepreneur participants of a UK university-based BPC were undertaken at the start and end of the competition but also six months after participation. This method enabled access to the participant’s experiences of the competition and appreciation of the meanings they attached to this experience as a source of entrepreneurial learning. Data were analysed according to the wave of data collection and a thematic analytical approach was taken to identify patterns across participant accounts.

At the start of the competition, participation was viewed as a valuable experiential learning opportunity in pursuit of the competencies needed, but not yet held, to progress implementation of the nascent venture. At the end of the competition, participants considered their participation experience had afforded the development of pitching, public speaking, networking and business plan production competencies and also self-confidence. Six months post-competition, participants still recognised that competencies had been developed; however, application of these were deemed as being confined to participation in other competitions rather than the routine day-to-day aspects of venture implementation. Developed competencies and learning remained useful given a prevailing view that further competition participation represented an important activity which would enable value to be leveraged in terms of finance, marketing and networking opportunities for new venture creation.

The findings challenge the common understanding that the BPC represents an effective methodology for highly authentic, relevant and broadly applicable entrepreneurial learning. Moreover the idea that the competencies needed for routine venture implementation and competencies developed through competition are synonymous is challenged. By extension the study suggests competition activities may not be as closely tied to the realities of new venture creation as commonly portrayed or understood and that the learning afforded is situated within a competition context. Competitions could therefore be preventing the opportunities for entrepreneurial learning that they purport they offer. Given the practical importance of competition participation as a resource acquisition activity for nascent entrepreneurs, further critical examination of the competition agenda is necessary as too is additional consideration about the design of such competitions and how such competitions should feature within university policy to support new venture creation.

This study contributes to the limited literature and studies on BPCs by focussing on its effectiveness as a means of providing entrepreneurial learning for participants. The key contribution taking it from an individual nascent entrepreneur participant perspective is that the competencies afforded through competition participation are more limited in scope and application than traditionally promoted and largely orientated towards future BPC participation. Learning is mainly situated for competition sake only and about participants securing further resources and higher levels of visibility. As the nascent entrepreneurs intended learning outcomes from competition participation are subsequently not realised, the study highlights a gap between the intended and actual outcomes of competition participation.

Large private organisations (LPOs) creating entrepreneurship opportunities for people at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP) is a thought-provoking issue for researchers. The main purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the influence of support from LPOs on entrepreneurship business success among the BoP segment through entrepreneurial competencies.

The paper follows a quantitative research approach. Data were collected from a sample of 134 BoP entrepreneurs in Bangladesh using a structured survey instrument. Partial least square has been employed as a statistical technique to analyse the data.

The influence of support provided by LPOs, in terms of technical and training, increased entrepreneurial competencies among the BoP entrepreneurs. Further, entrepreneurial competencies contribute to the proliferation of the BoP entrepreneurship business success and play a mediating role to achieve business success as long as technical and training supports are provided.

It is expected that business organisations can embrace this framework as a business model and contribute to the social initiatives.

This paper invokes research on the entrepreneurship domain particularly focusing on the BoP segment of the society. The significant relationship between support of LPOs and success of small-scale entrepreneurship business can be viewed as a novel contribution in BoP domain.

This paper draws on resource-based theory (RBV) to examine the impact of the management control system (MCS) package on business performance through the mediating role of entrepreneurial competencies and the interaction role of business strategy in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

A total of 372 questionnaires were used in this research for analysis purposes using partial least square–structural equation modelling. Cluster sampling was used and nine states out of 16 states were selected randomly, including Kelantan, Johor, Sarawak, Selangor, Kedah, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Perak and Sabah, because the nine states cover 84.4% of the total SMEs.

The results revealed that only cultural and administrative control has no relationship with business performance. Moreover, in the MCS package, all elements have a significant and positive influence on entrepreneurial competencies. Furthermore, business strategy (cost leadership and differentiation strategy) significantly moderates, while entrepreneurial competencies mediate between, cultural, planning, cybernetic, rewards and compensation, administrative control and business performance.

SMEs in Malaysia are contributing 36.6% to gross domestic product. Further, as this sector is important, less attention has been paid to this area of MCS package with business strategies to determine organisational performance. This study fills these gaps, and the recommendations and findings for further research are discussed in detail accordingly. Moreover, the findings of the current research provide guidelines for the management of SMEs.

本文應用資源基礎理論，來探討管理控制系統套裝對經營績效的影響；研究的進行，乃透過探討企業家才能所扮演的中介角色以及在中小型企業裡，經營策略所扮演的交互作用角色。

研究共分析了372份調查問卷, 研究使用的方法為偏最小平方法PLS-SEM。使用集體抽樣法，從16個州屬中隨機抽取9個州，該9個州包括吉蘭丹州、柔佛州、砂拉越、雪蘭我、吉打、吉隆玻、檳城、霹靂和沙巴；這是因為該9個州已涵蓋整體中小型企業的84.4%。

研究結果顯示，只有文化和行政管制是與業務績效沒有關聯的。而且，在管理控制系統套裝裡，所有元素對企業家才能均有顯著和正面的影響。再者，經營策略 (成本領先戰略和差導化戰略) 在文化、策劃、神經機械學、獎勵和補償、行政管制與經營績效之間起著顯著的緩和作用；而企業家才能則於當中起中介的作有。

在馬來西亞，中小型企業佔國內生產總值的36.6%。再者，這個部門至為重要，唯對管理控制系統套裝這範疇 (組織的業績如何取決於經營策略) 的關注則不足 。本研究彌補這研究的差距，因應為進一步研究仔細討論了建議和研究結果。另外，本研究的研究結果，為管理中小型企業提供了指引。