Entrepreneurial experience in higher education in Malaysia

In Malaysia, the Government and the higher education sector have been working together over a number of years to increase the impact of the higher education knowledge base on business and society. However, although the country has a world-class research base it has not been very effective at translating research outputs into business innovation, competitive advantage and social benefits. In view of this, an analysis of selected universities in Malaysia was undertaken to determine the extent to which research university status, researcher roles and innovation performance could impact the development of entrepreneurship in the university. This was then compared to relevant university experience in the UK. Evidence from the survey suggests that research university focus, researcher roles and innovation performance explain 57% of the variance in predicting the success of an entrepreneurial venture. Further, an important management implication of the study is that the entrepreneurial activity is embedded within the teaching and research and is at the core of academic identity.