https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6376-6538
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ABSTRACT
This article examines the effect of academic qualifications and networking ties towards the evolvement of micro, small-medium, and large ethnic Indian enterprises in Malaysia. The study is based in multicultural Malaysia, where certain policies were implemented in favor of one specific ethnicity. Research indicates that better academic qualifications through transgenerational succession affect how entrepreneurs form connections with their families, co-ethnic networks, and inter-ethnic networks to develop their businesses. This article explains that while micro and smaller firms are choosing to remain in their ethnic identity, medium and larger corporations are willing to shed their ethnic identity for the rapid growth of their businesses. A framework is built from the understanding of literature and past evidence on ethnic Indian entrepreneurship in Malaysia. This article demonstrates the disparities of Malaysian Indian businesses that have progressed differently over the generations, due to the impact of human and social capital.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. Andaya and Andaya, A history of Malaysia.
2. Department of Statistics, Malaysia: Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristics Report.
3. See note 1 above.
4. Santhiram, Education of minorities: The case of Indians in Malaysia.
5. Sandhu, Indians in Malaya: Immigration and Settlement, 1786-1957.
6. Chakraborti, “The New Economic Policy of Malaysia: Its Impact on the Malaysian Indians,” 193-205.
7. Mahalingam, Contemporary Malaysian Indians History, Issues, Challenges & Prospects.
8. Gomez, Political Business: Corporate Involvement of Malaysian Political Parties.
9. Gopal and Karupiah, “Indian diaspora and urban poverty: a Malaysian perspective,” 103-122.
10. Mansor and Awang, “The role of social safety nets in Malaysia: Trends and prospects,” 197-214.
11. Marimuthu, Contemporary Malaysian Indians History, Issues, Challenges & Prospects.
12. See note above 8.
13. Light and Bonacich, Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Koreans in Los Angeles, 1965-1982.
14. Clark and Drinkwater, “Recent trends in minority ethnic entrepreneurship in Britain,” 136-46.
15. Ibid.
16. Camarota, Reconsidering immigrant entrepreneurship: An examination of self-employment among natives and the foreign-born.
17. Dunstan and Crichton, Migrants’ Experiences in New Zealand: Pilot Survey Report.
18. Sequeira and Rasheed, “Start-up and growth of immigrant small businesses: The impact of social and human capital,” 357–375; and Sequeira et al., “The influence of social ties and self-efficacy in forming entrepreneurial intentions and motivating nascent behaviour,” 275–293.
19. Portes, “Social capital: Its origins and applications in modern sociology,” 1–24.
20. Adler and Kwon, “Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept,” 17-40.
21. Coleman, “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital,” 95-120.
22. Ibid.
23. See note 19 above.
24. Iyer and Shapiro, “Ethnic entrepreneurial and marketing systems: implications for the global economy,” 83-110.
25. Gómez-Mejía et al., “Socioemotional wealth and business risks in family-controlled firms: Evidence from Spanish olive oil mills,” 106-137.
26. Sanders and Nee, “Immigrant self-employment: The family as social capital and the value of human capital,” 231–249.
27. Burt, “Structural holes and good ideas,” 349–399.
28. Werbner, “Renewing an Industrial Past: British Pakistani Entrepreneurship in Manchester,” 7–41.
29. Aldrich et al., Communities in Business: Strategies for Economic Survival.
30. See note 13 above.
31. Jones et al., “Market potential as a decisive influence on the performance of ethnic minority business,” 37-53.
32. Waldinger, Still the Promised City? New Immigrants and African-Americans in Post-Industrial New York.
33. Drori and Lerner, “The dynamics of limited breaking out: the case of the Arab manufacturing businesses in Israel,” 135-154; and Rusinovic, “Transnational embeddedness: Transnational activities and networks among first-and second-generation immigrant entrepreneurs in the Netherlands,” 431-451.
34. Torres et al., Creation of a Tacit Knowledge Scale in Succession Process of Family Business.
35. Xavier and Gomez, “Still an ethnic enterprise after a generational change? Indian-owned SMEs in Malaysia,” 297-322.
36. Ibid.
37. Gomez, “The Rise and Fall of Capital: Corporate Malaysia in Historical Perspective,” 345-381.
38. Gomez and Jomo, Malaysia’s Political Economy: Politics, Patronage and Profits.
39. Gomez, “Affirmative action and enterprise development in Malaysia: the new economic policy, business partnerships and inter-ethnic relations,” 59-104.
40. Laroche et al., “The effects of ethnicity factors on consumer deal interests: an empirical study of French-and English-Canadians,” 100-112.
41. Comaroff and Comaroff, Ethnicity, Inc.
42. See note 7 above.
43. Sivalingam, Indian Communities in Southeast Asia.
44. Ramasamy, “Politics of Indian Representation in Malaysia,” 355-374
45. Sivakumar, Contemporary Malaysian Indians History, Issues, Challenges & Prospects.
46. See note 43 above.
47. Schiffman, Language Shift in the Tamil Communities of Malaysia and Singapore: The Paradox of Egalitarian Language Policy.
48. Sen, On ethics and economics.
49. See note 39 above.
50. Doris, Contemporary Malaysian Indians History, Issues, Challenges & Prospects.
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Notes on contributors
Jesrina Ann Xavier
Jesrina Ann Xavier is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Management and Marketing, Taylor’s University, Malaysia. She obtained her PhD from the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya in the field of entrepreneurship development. Her research interests include ethnic, social and women entrepreneurship.
Ponmalar N. Alagappar
Ponmalar N. Alagappar is a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director at the Centre for Internship Training and Academic Enrichment (CITrA), Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. She obtained her PhD from the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya. Her research interest broadly spans within the area of entrepreneurship and psychology.
Lee Kean Yew
Lee Kean Yew runs a business consulting firm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He graduated from University of Malaya with Masters in Management and PhD in family business studies. His research interests are Asian development studies, family business, knowledge management and Chinese studies.