The Moderating Effects of Entrepreneurship Training Towards New Venture Creation

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: Email: [email protected];

Original Research Article

Journal of Global Research in Education and Social Science

4(3): 153-164, 2015

International Knowledge Press www.ikpress.org

THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING TOWARDS NEW VENTURE CREATION

SEUN AZEEZ OLUGBOLA1* AND KALSOM ABD. WAHAB1

1Faculty of Economics and Muamalat Administration, Universiti Sains Islam, Malaysia.

AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTIONS This work was carried out in collaboration between both authors. Author SAO designed the study, wrote the

protocol, interpreted the data, anchored the field study, gathered the initial data and performed preliminary data analysis and produce the initial draft. Authors KAW managed the literature searches, advised on the analysis.

Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Received: 23rd February 2015 Accepted: 28th March 2015 Published: 20th August 2015 __________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT

The study aims to investigate the determinant factors of new venture creation and establish whether training moderates the factors. Developing new venture demands high entrepreneurial abilities, high motivations, resources availability, management competency, risk taking propensity and high working ethics of the human factors. If the business fundamentals can be shaped into the mindset through trainings, youths who are ready to face various challenges in setting up new ventures will be influenced. The human capital factors are used as the underpinning theory in this study that employed hypothetical deductive approach through Structural Equation Model (SEM) as a tool of analysis. Four factors namely opportunity seeking, motivation, ability and resources are regressed as determinants of new venture creation while risk taking, working ethics of human factors are constructed as dependent variable. Cross sectional data gathered from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia students (USIM), across the faculties (N=490) are used and analyzed. The findings reveal that all factors except abilities are positively and significantly related to readiness towards new venture creation. Nevertheless, trainings do moderate the relationship of abilities and other factors tested. These findings suggest entrepreneurs can be trained and developed. Inclusions of trainings as a moderator play important roles on entrepreneurship training supporting and contributing to human capital theory on new venture creation. The structural model provides new empirical evidence and value insights to enhance trainings on new venture creation. The study implication serves as policy reference on job creation opportunities and students’ attainment of higher hopes on new venture creation.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship Training; new venture creation; opportunity seeking; Motivation; Resources; Abilities.

1. INTRODUCTION The commencement of entrepreneurial training is part of the strategic initiatives by the Malaysian government to influence graduates decisions from being salaried workers to creating their own venture

in the future. Debate arises on how the institutions should train students with essential entrepreneurial knowledge in order to develop would-be entrepreneurs with the required skills [1]. Although entrepreneurship training programs have existed for the past long years, some evidences indicate more

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institutions and government are offering entrepreneurship training programmes and support for new venture creation. In Malaysia, the level of youth engagement in setting up new firms is not as high as one would imagine and expect, the effect still remains low, as confirmed by previous research papers [2,3].

In equipping future entrepreneurs towards new venture, the process requires a lot of tasks. Therefore, the process of new venture involves understanding knowledge of entrepreneurship, an aptitude to perform business tasks, knowing the value of creating such firms and awareness of the preferences of such business. Entrepreneurial trainings start by encouraging students to evaluate their Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) strategy in various business start-up, in order to develop a clear sense of understanding of the required venture [4].

Considering the hypothetical nature of venture creation, in every high growth economy a new venture is created for every five minutes and high new venture creation is positively related to high socio-economic status [5]. Job creation, economic growth, innovation, high management competency are some of the essential attributes of new venture. Hence, students are the driving force of any nation’s ambition to strengthen the economic development in the future. If the basic principles of business start-up can be developed into students’ mindset at initial stage through entrepreneurial training, the economy will build young entrepreneurs that are ready to take business risks and new venture creation challenges [6].

It is envisaged that after the trained students have graduated from their various field of study, large number of the students will possess a solid business foundation that can help them to set up the future organisation. However, so far there has been very little empirical proof of the positive relationship of entrepreneurship training and readiness towards new venture creation. Thus, there is a need to carry out a research work on whether the effect of entrepreneurship training can influence students’ readiness towards creating new venture.

1.1 Research Objectives

The main aim of the study is to examine the determinants factors of readiness towards new venture creation and determine whether training do moderate the relationship. The specific objectives of the study are:

1. To determine whether opportunity seeking can influence readiness towards new venture creation after training;

2. To determine whether motivation can influence readiness towards new venture creation after training;

3. To determine whether resources can influence readiness towards new venture creation after training;

4. To determine whether entrepreneurial abilities can influence readiness towards new venture creation after training.

1.2 Theoretical Framework 1.2.1 Human capital theory in Education

(Training) The theoretical framework of this study is adopted from various studies relating to human capital theory. The human capital can be generally described as hierarchy of knowledge and skills [7]. Human capital theory as used in the past is one of the most used theory in relation to entrepreneurship education. The theory postulated that entrepreneurs with higher level of input should produce superior output. Human capital theory further showed that entrepreneurs with high level of skills through knowledge acquisition will achieve greater success after establishing new firms than those without proper training [8]. Therefore if entrepreneurs can be trained with all the required skills it is expected of them to create a venture of a superior output. Human capital theory support the view that the societal well-being is not just a function of accumulation of capital, resources and labour but more of individual’s knowledge and skills [9].Human capital can be used to develop more value system among individuals and society at large. Based on the study, the findings revealed that the individuals with proper entrepreneurship training will possess higher opportunity identification than those who have not engaged in such training [10]. Four aspects of human capital theory (opportunity seeking, motivation, resources and ability) have been narratively identified in the past but have not been fully dealt with quantitatively [11,12]. Human capital theory predicts that improved knowledge and skill will yield a better economic advancement for both individuals and societies. Since every society are now moving towards knowledge economy, through which knowledge and skill carry greater impact than previous years. Entrepreneurship knowledge will be a welcome development for any society that aim to get to the top. This view suggests


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that through knowledge and skills, society can be developed through new venture creation that will have higher impact on the well-being of the people. 1.2.2. “IMAR” model of business success

component The social dimension of the new venture creation process which is also known as ‘Business Success Component’ commonly called IMAR model was developed in 1982 [11]. In this model the processes of entrepreneurial activities toward new venture creation are based on what individuals can offer and are categorised into four: Idea and Market (I): This is reflected in the viability of the Idea. This is where feasibility study comes in. This concept shows whether the idea can be workable. It place emphasis on what needs the idea will meet. Every viable ideas must show its advantage over other ones, point out its target customers and revealed the competitions ahead. Motivation and Determination (M): This may appear from individual or group or community at large. Reflected in this concept are support of family, partners, government, institution and track record in already trying to achieve start-ups and the objectives of such start-up of individual or group are also important. Ability (A): Of the individual, his/her family and others involved in creating new venture previous track record (employment and associated Knowledge and skill) are relevance to new business. Technical and managerial ability are also an important aspect of entrepreneurial abilities. Resources (R): there are two categories of resources needed by prospective new venture such as Physical resources (Premises, Plant, and materials, labour) and Financial Resources available.

1.3 Literature Review and Hypothesis Development

Entrepreneurial training is a kind of orientation enhancement on knowledge, attitude and skills [13]. Over the years there has been a planned efforts to establish entrepreneurship programs with the objective of teaching ambitious students on how to create new venture and realize their business potentials. This is an attractive idea with a worthwhile goal in mind, but there’s a hook. In the past there are ongoing debates on whether entrepreneurs are born or can be developed. These are discussed thus:

1.3.1 Entrepreneurs are born In the new survey using descriptive analysis the result showed that two-thirds of entrepreneurs’ were inspired by innate desire, not through education, training or work experience [14]. This claim is supported that the entrepreneur’s personality is formed early in life, and it is likely locked into place by the person’s late adolescence [15]. A study investigates using classic quantitative genetics analysis with 1285 pairs of MZ and 849 pairs of same-sex DZ twins being sampled [16]. The result shows that females have high degree of heritability for entrepreneurship but the result do not indicate that genes determine entrepreneurship. Also, using similar quantitative genetics analysis of 347 pairs of monozygosity (MZ) and 303 pairs of same-sex dizygosity (DZ) twins, the result shows that the tendency toward entrepreneurship is about 48 percent "heritable," meaning influenced by genetic factors [17]. 1.3.2 Entrepreneurs can be developed Entrepreneurship training is a process through which experiences are deliberately offered to trainees to enable them to absorb some new perspective, understanding values, attitude, technique or skill [18]. These experiences acquired from training may not have been easy to get without adequate training. Entrepreneurship training enables the students to acquire skills and knowledge that are important to motivate them into venturing a new business [19]. Entrepreneurship training provides more and better entrepreneurial opportunities as it nurtures the ability of students which raise their inclination and attitude towards entrepreneurship [20]. Previous study revealed that every individuals have entrepreneurial characteristics that are not fully developed. The entrepreneurial orientation can be used to fully developed individuals innate characteristics after the individuals have fully engaged in enterprise trainings [21]. This will not only improve the risk taking ability but also innovativeness and proactiveness of such individuals. The original question raised by Miller, “How does entrepreneurship differ in different individuals? – How does EO affect students’ career choices differently in different types of academic settings?” -may lead to promising insights for growth and economic development. It can be implied from the discussion above that entrepreneurship programmes play an important role in venture creation, career decisions and economic growth and development.


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The first Qura’nic verses (Surat Al-Alaq) reveal to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) manifest the important of knowledge in Islam. The prophet (peace be upon him) taught his followers that his educated companions should teach the ignorant, and many of his followers during his time and after who followed this attitude of sharing knowledge are successful entrepreneurs, who played a significant entrepreneurial role in other communities beyond Arabia [22]. A study investigates using descriptive analysis, a principle axis oblique factor analysis and hierarchical multiple regression of 417 respondents [23]. The findings revealed that students have greater tendencies to be involved in entrepreneurship as they are exposed to entrepreneurship courses. The results of similar research reveals otherwise after using descriptive analysis on 114 respondents that the desirability of students to become entrepreneurs does not necessarily relate to exposure or participation in entrepreneurship programmes or courses during their study period [24]. Drucker indicates as one of the leading management thinkers of our time that entrepreneurship is not magic, not mysterious, and has nothing to do with genes [25]. It is a discipline and can be learned like any other discipline. The impact of entrepreneurship programmes towards desirability to create new venture has yielded mixed result. Most research focus on intention while few studies are done on behavioural aspect of new venture creation. However, so far there has been very limited empirical studies of the positive impact of training on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial success [26]. Due to these convictions this study aims to determine the effect of entrepreneurship training on readiness towards new venture creation and to determine the factors affecting the readiness of students to become entrepreneurs using behavioural perspectives.

1.3.3 New venture creation New venture creation is devoted to helping students develop compelling business ideas [27].The new venture creation concept is established and that the central activity in entrepreneurship is the formation of new organizations. In this sense, all the functions, activities and actions attributed with perceiving opportunities and creating organizations to pursue them, are denominated as the entrepreneurial process [28]. New ventures emerge, and take the form they are, because of the deliberate choices and attempt made by individuals [29]. From the perspective of the potential students, two questions are critical: "Can I make a difference?" and "Do I want to?" The first of these

involves perceived control, whereas the second requires consideration of motivational processes. This shows that for students to be ready towards new venture creation ability to act and motivation are important factors that can influence such decisions. In the process of creating new venture, individuals need to overcome three challenges-the challenges of aspiring, preparing and entering [30]. The aspiring hurdle indicates an individual’s intent to become an entrepreneur, while the preparing hurdle reflects their preparations by participating in entrepreneurship training, scanning the environment and acquiring resources before facing the entering hurdle that arises when individuals actually open the business [31]. 1.3.4 Hypothesis development Hypotheses have been described as a rationally assumed relationship between independent variables and dependent variable [32]. In this study, there are eight hypotheses developed based on independent variables, moderating variable and dependent variable. The moderating variable is “a variable that affects the direction and/or strength of the relationship between an independent or predictor variable and a dependent or criterion variable” [33]. For the purpose of this study the hypotheses are stated thus: H1: Opportunity seeking has a positive and

significant effect on readiness towards new venture creation.

H1a: Entrepreneurship training moderates the relationship between opportunity seeking and readiness towards new venture creation.

H2: Motivation has a positive and significant effect on readiness towards new venture creation.

H2a: Entrepreneurship training moderates the relationship between motivation and readiness towards new venture creation.

H3: Access to resources has a positive and significant effect on readiness towards new venture creation.

H3a: Entrepreneurship training moderates the relationship between resources and readiness towards new venture creation.

H4: Ability has a positive and significant effect on readiness towards new venture creation.

H4a: Entrepreneurship training moderates the relationship between ability and readiness towards new venture creation.

1.4 Conceptual Framework

The framework of this study is based on four independent constructs, one moderator and the dependent variable as indicated in Fig. 1.


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Fig. 1. Readiness towards new venture creation model Source: Adapted from Gibbs & Ritchie’ Model (1982), Timmons (1994) and Seun & Kalsom (2015)

The independent variables are opportunity seeking, motivation, resources and ability. The dependent variable is readiness towards new venture creation. The moderating variable (training) is used to test the strength of relationship between dependent and independent variables.

2. METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research Design The purpose of the study is descriptive and hypothesis. The unit of analysis is at individual level (students). The methodology of this study is quantitative using SEM analysis. The time horizon is cross sectional. The sampling frame involves six faculties in the main campus of USIM. The survey

design is quantitative and deductive in approach. The sampling design is probability sampling design (simple Random sampling). Survey (questionnaire) was carried out as the primary data collection method.

2.2 Population and Sample The respondents of this research paper are undergraduates’ students of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). USIM was used in order to encourage more venture creation among students in Malaysia. The population of USIM has over 10,000 students. The minimum sample size for population of 10,000 respondent is 370 [32]. Therefore, the sample size for this study comprised of 490 respondents regardless of the age, faculty and course of study.

Dependent Variable MOTIVATION

Achievement motive

Profit motivation

Desire for independence

ABILITY

Management skills

Financial Skills

Marketing skills

Business plan

Team building task

Administrative task

RESOURCES

Access to Finance

Physical resources

Legal infrastructure

Independent variables

READINESS

TOWARDS NEW

VENTURE

CREATION

Moderating variable

OPPORTUNITY SEEKING

Innovative ideas

Creative ideas

Social networking

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

TRAINING


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2.3 Data analysis Techniques After the data have been collected from the respondents, this study used two statistical tools to analyse the data. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, (SPSS) version 21.0is used to determine the descriptive analyses such as mean, standard deviations, charts, and other frequencies. The data is also cleaned through SPSS in order to identify and assess the percentage of the missing items. The second statistical techniques used is Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) approach through Structural Equation Modelling using AMOS 21.0 software [34]. The SEM method as an extension OLS is developed to cater for the limitation of OLS [34]. The MLE analysis was used to test the measurement model such as the validity, reliability and structural model used to test the hypotheses of the study. SEM overcomes the limitations of Ordinary Least Square (OLS) or First-generation techniques such as Logistic regression, Multiple Regression, Hierarchical regression and others because of its ability to evaluate systems of variables and relationships simultaneously [35].

2.4 Data Screening and Missing Data There were 590 questionnaires distributed and 533 were returned. This represents 90.3% response rate. In order to screen and assess the accuracy of the data input, mean and standard deviation were used. All responses were within the measures of 5-point likert scale. If the missing value account for less than 15% in a single variable it is not considered large and unlikely to be problematic [36]. In this study, the missing value are all well below 10%.The survey had not more than 8.1% of the items unanswered, resulting in an effective sample size of 490 usable completed questionnaires.

2.5 Demographic Characteristics The profile of the individual respondents indicate a higher number of females (354, 72.2%) respondents than males (136, 27.8%). Majority of the respondents of this study are between 20-25 years old,

representing 93.3% responses. The students’ parents either work as an employee (60.4%) or have family businesses (39.6%). In order to create social networking among the students at USIM, 10.2% of the students are members of entrepreneurship club. The results further indicate the respondents are from 12 states with different locations in Malaysia. Majority of the respondents are from Negeri Sembilan with 56.1% due to the location of USIM. Other respondents’ states include Selangor (13.1%), Kelantan (5.9%), Terengganu (4.9%), Kedah (4.3%), Johor (3.5%), Perak (3.9%), Pahang (2.9%), Penang (1.8%), Melacca (1.6%), Perlis (1.4%) and Sabah (.6%).

2.6 Validity and Reliability For an established items (Readiness, ability and opportunity seeking, resources and motivation), the factor loading for an item should be 0.6 or higher [32]. All the remaining factors did meet up with the conditions of Unidimentionality and were above 0.6 thresholds. From Table 2, all the constructs achieved Average Variance Extraction (AVE) and range from 0.542 to 0.697 which were greater than the 0.5 threshold [36]. Another requirement for discriminant validity is the correlation between exogenous constructs should be less than 0.85 [32]. Based on this study some of the items that have high MI greater than 15 were deleted and the correlations among the exogenous variables are all below 0.85 as depicted in the Fig. 2. In Table 1, diagonal in bold represent the square root of AVE while the other entries represent the correlation. The modification index ranges from 4.196 to 13.256and none of the items are redundant. The results show adequate unidimentionality, convergent and construct validity thus all the constructs were valid measures based on their parameter estimates [37]. All the constructs Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients were above the 0.7 threshold. All the composite reliability values are higher than 0.6 thresholds and range from 0.797 to 0.932. Ability has the strongest AVE of 0.697 and others are greater than 0.5 threshold as shown in Table 2.

Table 1. Correlation and discriminant validity results for the model

Construct Opportunity Motivation Resources Ability Readiness Opportunity Seeking 0.91 Motivation 0.35 0.90 Resources 0.27 0.39 0.89 Ability 0.54 0.27 0.23 0.97 Readiness 0.71 0.39 0.35 0.37 0.89

Diagonal in bold represent the square root of AVE while the other entries represent the correlation


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Table 2. Results of reliability and validity of measurement model

Model construct Number of items

Cronbach alpha (Above 0.7)

Composite reliability

Average variance extracted (AVE)

Opportunity seeking 4 0.824 0.825 0.542 Motivation 3 0.817 0.808 0.586 Resources 3 0.794 0.797 0.569 Ability 6 0.931 0.932 0.697 Readiness 3 0.785 0.801 0.577 AVE=∑K2/n and CR= (∑K) 2/ [(∑K) 2+ (∑1-K2)] where k=factor loading for every item and n= number of items in a model.

Fig. 2. The new measurement model for pool construct: Factor loading, correlation and R2

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Direct Effects The findings of this study indicated that the regression weight for opportunity seeking in the prediction of readiness towards new venture creation is positive and significantly different from zero at the 0.001 level (two-tailed) (β=.80, P=***) as shown in Table 3. In other words the hypothesis (H1) stated thus is supported. Based on these findings the hypothesis is supported and provides empirical support for previous studies. This result is consistent with the current study [38]. Similar study using hierarchical regression model revealed that opportunity seeking has positive and significant relationship with readiness towards new venture creation [13]. Once an entrepreneur ready to starts a firm, new venture opportunities become apparent [39].

The regression weight for motivation in the prediction of readiness towards new venture creation is positive and significantly different from zero at the 0.05 level (two-tailed) (β=.14, P=.37) as shown in Table 3. In other words the above hypothesis (H2) is supported. The path analysis showed that the higher the motivation, the higher the level of readiness towards new venture by 14.3%. Based on these findings the hypothesis is supported and provides empirical support for previous studies that in order for youth to exploit the niche of the market there is needs for increased motivation in order to prompt their readiness towards setting up their firms [11,13,40]. The results further revealed that resources has a positive and significantly different from zero at the 0.01 level (two-tailed) (β=.17, P=.01) on readiness towards new venture creation as shown in Table 3. Based on this finding, the hypothesis (H3) is


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Fig. 3. Regression weight of unconstrained structural equation model (Direct Effect)

supported by previous studies. The perceived importance of new venture creation to the growth of Malaysia’s economy is evidenced by the sheer amount and variety of supporting mechanisms and policies that exist for entrepreneurs, including funding and physical infrastructure capable citizen over the country [41,42]. The results revealed that the regression weight for ability in the prediction of readiness towards new venture is not significantly different from zero at the 0.001 level (two-tailed) (β=-.05, P=.26) as shown in Table 3. In other words the above hypothesis (H4) is not supported. Since the students are from different background, 59.1% of the students’ parents work in private firm and government parastatals. Most of the students may not have the entrepreneurial ability to create their own venture before undertaking entrepreneurship course. This result is supported by the previous study that entrepreneurs with low ability will report low output [7].

3.2 Moderating Effect of Latent Constructs The results of the Chi-square (4.473>3.84) as shown in Table 4 has shown the level of moderation between opportunity seeking and readiness towards new venture creation after introducing training. The moderation test (H1a) is significant since the difference in Chi-Square value between the constrained and unconstrained model is greater than 3.84. The difference in Chi-Square value is

4.473(301.444 – 296.971). These empirical findings confirmed and supported the previous studies [20] [38]. The findings show that entrepreneurship training does provide more and better entrepreneurial opportunities as it nurtures the ability of students which raise their inclination and attitude towards entrepreneurship [20]. The findings have shown the level of moderation between motivation and readiness towards new venture creation. The moderation test (H2a) is significant since the difference in Chi-Square value between the constrained and unconstrained model is greater than 3.84. The difference in Chi-Square value is 90.807 (387.778 – 296.971) as shown in Table 4. These empirical findings supported the previous studies [43]. The results show that new venture is influenced by expected outcomes of entrepreneurship knowledge of starting a business and need for achievement is the tendency that motivates an individual who desire to start a business [43]. The results has also shown the level of moderation between resources and readiness towards new venture creation. The moderation test (H3a) is significant since the difference in Chi-Square value between the constrained and unconstrained model is greater than 3.84. The difference in Chi-Square value is 94.694 (391.665 – 296.971) as shown in Table 4. These empirical findings supported the previous studies [13,20,44].


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Table 3. Direct effect regression results

Hypothesis statement Estimate P-value Hypothesis H1: Opportunity seeking has a positive and significant effect on Readiness towards new venture creation.

.80 *** Supported

H2: Motivation has a positive and significant effect on Readiness towards new venture creation

.14 .04 Supported

H3: Resources has a positive and significant effect on Readiness towards new venture creation.

.17 .01 Supported

H4: Ability has a positive and significant effect on Readiness towards new venture creation.

-.05 .26 Not supported

Table 4. The summary results of hypothesis testing for moderated path analysis

Hypothesis statement Estimate Chi-square (P>3.84)

R2 Result on hypothesis

H1a:Entrepreneurship training moderate the relationship between opportunity seeking and readiness towards new venture creation

.74 4.473 0.60 Supported

H2a: Entrepreneurship training moderate the relationship between Motivation and readiness towards new venture creation.

0.51 90.807 0.59 Supported

H3a: Entrepreneurship training moderate the relationship between Resources and readiness towards new venture creation.

0.48 94.694 0.59 Supported

H4a: Entrepreneurship training moderate the relationship between Ability and readiness towards new venture creation.

0.64 298.303 0.49 Supported

Lastly, considering hypothesis (H4a), the difference in Chi-Square value is 298.303 (595.274 – 296.971), while the difference in Degrees of Freedom is 143 – 142 = 1) as shown in Table 4. The results of the Chi-square (298.303>3.84) has shown the level of moderation between entrepreneurial ability and readiness towards new venture creation. Before the training, ability is not significant. After the training the level of students’ abilities become significant. This training has developed students on how to perform marketing task, financial task, managerial task, administrative task, team building task and more importantly how to write effective business plan. The Table 4 shows similar results using hierarchical multiple regression of the same data [13].

4. CONCLUSION The purpose of the study is to examine the determinant factors of readiness towards new venture creation and determine whether trainings do moderate the relationships. The findings show how training can be the key drivers in developing students’ mindset towards venture creation. This study has shown that entrepreneurs can be developed with basic business ideals. The study show that the trainings can entails

how to identify opportunity, develop motivation level, ways of managing financial and human resources and ability to perform various task such as managerial role, marketing role, building efficient teams and basic knowledge of writing effective business plan. Having this knowledge will not only bring sustainability to new venture but will reduce its risk and failure rate in the future. The main contribution of this research is the development of new model for measuring readiness towards new venture creation among students in Malaysia. Their career choice is a major concern for the government due to the fact that there are shortage of job in the economy. Young graduates are current hope of the economy and if they are not properly managed, it may result to brain drain. Since the students are still young in the market the knowledge acquired is very important for the growth of the economy.

The findings of this studies extended new venture creation literature especially at individual level, of which there are minimal empirical research especially in Malaysia. It was revealed that majority of the studies used the theory at firm level. Thus it is hoped that this study will be invaluable in providing


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directions for future research in this evolving fields. The findings of this study are also useful for the government in future policy implementation and providing more supports and incentives to encourage more students to be more entrepreneurial in nature. Although most researchers might argue that new venture creation is still very young, there has been an enormous research on different aspect of new venture and more are still coming because most economy are moving towards economic development and the concept has come as a popular concepts in university today as one of the aspects of entrepreneurship. The limitation of this research is that the study results that could have been obtained from a longitudinal study of the tested relationships of this work might have been considered to have yielded a richer insight. However, existing time and resource constraints necessitated a research design such as the cross-sectional form utilized in this research study. In addition, this study solely employed quantitative data and methods. Future research may use qualitative such interview and unstructured questionnaire or possibly used triangulation methods which combine both qualitative and quantitative. Since this research could not get to the established graduated students, future research should concentrate on the students that have already set up their own firms in order to determine the actual number of students that engage in new venture creation after graduation. This study represents an attempt to clear the argument that venture initiation and creation are acts of human desire, and to understand why individuals chooses to create a venture. The model developed herein begins with opportunity seeking and entrepreneurial drive, coupled with entrepreneurial knowledge, creativity and experience, engineers the outcome through motivation, resources and ability to create an entrepreneurial readiness.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research paper is part of my thesis. Special gratitude goes to Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia and USIM Research Management Centre for providing GRA grant (USIM/FRGS/FEM/32/51612) for making this work possible.

COMPETING INTERESTS Authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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Small Business & Entrepreneurship

The Moderating Effects of Entrepreneurship Training Towards New Venture Creation