ARTICLE REVIEW

TITLE:
‘Malaysian Women Entrepreneurs: Some Emerging
Issues and Challenges of Entering Global Market’

PRINCIPLES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP (ENT530)

FACULTY & PROGRAMME : FACULTY OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE &

POLICY STUDIES
SEMESTER : 3
NAME : LIYANA FARISYA BINTI HAIRIN NIZAL
GROUP : N4AM2253A
LECTURER : MADAM ZAIDATULHUSNA MOHD ISNANI
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank to my lecturer of Principles of Entrepreneurship,

Madam Zaidatulhusna Mohd Isnan for her supports and advices in completing this article
review. I am very appreciate what have she done to explain about guidelines of article review.
May Allah reward her for all her effort towards us. This article review have tested my abilities
especially mentally.

I would like to extend my deepest gratitude and special thanks to all who have directly and
indirectly guided us in the writing this project paper. I would like to express my deepest
appreciation to our beloved parents, family and friends for their encouragement are greatly
appreciated.

1
 TABLE OF CONTENT

PAGES

TITLE PAGE

ANKNOWLEDGEMENT 1

TABLE OF CONTENT 2

1. INTRODUCTION 3

2. FINDING AND DISCUSSION 4-7

3. CONCLUSION 7

4. REFERENCES 8

5. APPENDICES 9

2
INTRODUCTION

This article chosen ‘Malaysian Women Entrepreneurs: Some Emerging Issues and
Challenges of Entering Global Market written’ by Filzah Md Isa, Mathivannan Jaganathan,
Muhd Afiq Syazwan Ahmdon, Hairunnisa Mohamad Ibrahim (2019) discuss on the women
entrepreneurs in Malaysia that facing with many issues and challenges in order to entering
global market. This article have been chosen because for the purpose of academic learning
for students that taking course ENT530 to understand more on the issues that particularly
facing by women entrepreneurs. Even though many studies shows the successful of women
entrepreneurs in Malaysia but in this article it highlighted that women entrepreneurs have
been facing such difficulties in establishing their business.
This article which stresses on the issues of women entrepreneurship and challenges that
related with gender, cultural, responsibilities which it makes women feel difficult to merge
their business into the global market. Over the years, we have been observing an emerging
trend of more Malaysian women entrepreneurs choosing to start their own business such as
real estate, food and beverage, fashion apparel, trading, import and so on (Isa, Jaganathan,
Ahmdon, & Ibrahim, 2018). However, women entrepreneurs had to deal with issues and
challenges that men entrepreneurs were not deal with. In which, women entrepreneur are
more difficult to be successful compared to the male entrepreneurs.

Although there are many past reports, academic and non-academic literature gave the
plausible impression on the number of women business formation, yet the number of
successful women entrepreneurs is far minimal compared to men, and men entrepreneurs
still dominating most of renown entrepreneurial activities (Isa, Jaganathan, Ahmdon, &
Ibrahim, 2018). In this article, it stated for this past reports had shown that men
entrepreneurs were more successful rather that women entrepreneurs. This is because
women entrepreneurs are facing and dealing with issues and challenges that were not deal
by men entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs in Malaysia must be able to face issues and
challenges that might occurred as they want to maintain their business in the market. The
challenges affected their business and women entrepreneurs tend to keep their business
small as to avoid conflict that related to their responsibilities. That is why entering the
international market is very difficult as there are more obstacle that women entrepreneurs
need to tackle on. They must be prepared in terms of individual, organizational and
environmental factors.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The overall purpose of the article are to collect and analyse the information on women
entrepreneurs and regarding on the ways of successful women entrepreneurs in Malaysia
preparing and handling issues and challenges arise during their international market
penetration. The theme of this article are the difficulties of women entrepreneurs in

3
managing the business towards international market which the authors wanted to examine
the women entrepreneurship in penetrating into the global market as authors believe that
women entrepreneurship have contributes in Malaysian economy development. This article
are providing insight of women issues, organizational and environmental factors.

The new ideas that communicated in this article are the issues and challenges that
Malaysian women’s entrepreneur facing in entering global market. There are a few issues
and challenges that authors stress on such as the cultural values which in traditional life,
the roles of woman have been portrayed as individual that carrying out the household
obligations and taking care the kids at home. This shown that if women are running a
business it will lead to the conflict as they need to manage the house chores and at the same
time they have to run their business. This could lead to inappropriate business direction.
Furthermore, the women entrepreneurs were facing with gender inequality which authors
said that in terms of the loans and funds accessibility, women entrepreneurs are hardly to
access with it compared to the male entrepreneurs. Other than that, authors highlighted on
the responsibility and duties of women entrepreneurs have lead them to keep their business
small and lack of desire to participate in the business activities as to avoid conflict occurred.

The important to be publish of these ideas because it explain more on the issues that
women entrepreneurs basically in Malaysia which not every people known their hardships
when they are running a business. In this article, authors wanted to highlight that even
though women entrepreneurs had been given government grants and funds such as
TEKUN, SME Corp, Amanah Ikthiar Malaysia (AIM) and Ministry of Women, Family and
Community Development (MWFCD) that were introduced to encourage Malaysian
Women to become entrepreneurs but number of successful women entrepreneurs are still
far behind men entrepreneurs. This were because women entrepreneurs are dealing with
challenges that men entrepreneurs are basically not dealing with such as cultural values and
gender inequality.

The method used that stated in this article is first-hand information from participants. In
which authors stated qualitative method been used. They conduct the face-to-face interview
with the women entrepreneurs, confirmation via telephone and secondary information such
as documents, company profiles, and other related material describing the company’s
achievements or milestones. The sampling that used to approach these women
entrepreneurs in this study that was purposive sampling. In this article, the study focused
on the women entrepreneurs that involved in local and international market. In which
quantitative method for this study are not suitable to be used.

The research methodology in this article is that the researchers had to get first-hand
information from the participants as purpose of collecting the required data, the personal
face-to-face interview with 10 women entrepreneurs had been conducted and the
interviewer have conduct the structured interviews which it focusing on the questions
explanation on how the women entrepreneurs penetrate international market. The interview
were conducted by using purposive sampling approach. Researcher had used the purposive

4
sampling in which researcher had relies on his or her judgement when choosing members
of population to participate in the study. Authors had stated that the sample were derived
from Ministry on International Trade (MITI’s) successful entrepreneurs list, Penang Malay
Chamber of Commerce (Dewan Perniagaan Pulau Pinang) and Majlis Amanah Rakyat
Pulau Pinang (MARA). The qualitative method in this study were used as quantitative
method could not provide the researchers with high accuracy to understand the
phenomenon which to study on the issues and challenges of Malaysian women
entrepreneurs.

The research outcome of this study are different women entrepreneurs have different
issues and challenges that need to be encountered in the international market which they
need to overcome it. For example, some issues that have been stated by the participants
such as culture of local market, different procedures and law restriction, fluctuations of
exchange rate and many more. These issues had become the obstacles for the women
entrepreneurs to enter the international market. By having different kinds of issues these
participants have different approaches in managing their own business in order to ensure
their business could be able to succeed in the local and international market, so every
women entrepreneur has to properly control their problems from becoming serious. For
instance, meeting with the staff and not being too strict with the staff, increase efforts in
promotion and so on as to ensure that their problem could be resolve and could penetrate
the international market.

Also, the outcome of the research found that women entrepreneurs in Malaysia need to
have proper business plan, a distinct business format, sufficient business information,
business flexibility that is able to fit in any situation, having good access to ICT, able to
focus on cost competitiveness to compete with rivals, financial stability, a good business
operation management and wide business networking with various parties that may directly
or indirectly influence their business operation. In order for the women entrepreneurs to
enter the international market, they said that their marketing strategies need to be improvise
as to fit in global arena. In this study, the authors also found that the importance of
environmental factors which could not been fully control by women entrepreneurs even
though they have the sufficient strength organizational and individual factors.
Environmental factors such as a distinct business format, sufficient business information,
business flexibility that is able to fit in any situation, having good access to ICT, able to
focus on cost competitiveness to compete with rivals, financial stability, a good business
operation management and wide business networking with various parties that may directly
or indirectly influence their business operation. In which the women entrepreneurs should
have prepared precautionary steps during the decision-making process of entering any new
international market. Then, women entrepreneurs should possess with suitable decision-
making strategy, controlling strategy and leadership styles. Lastly, the outcome of research
is regarding on the support from spouse and family on the women’s business. Most of the
women entrepreneur that participate in this study are getting support such as moral and
advice from spouse and family for their business and some of the women entrepreneurs are

5
not. But they believes in themselves and they also have achieved the success in their
business without men supports.

In my opinion this article is very useful. This is because the issues and challenges facing
by Malaysian women entrepreneurs that have been stated clearly by the authors in which
women entrepreneurs were dealing with gender inequality, cultural values, having a lot of
responsibility which lead to the problems of their business. It happened Women
entrepreneurs tend to keep their business small as they want to ensure that they can do the
house chores while they run the business. They are not fully desire to participate in business
activities in order to avoid conflict between their responsibilities and business.

In my opinion, the strength of this article is that the study is using qualitative methods
which researchers conducting face-to-face interview with the women entrepreneurs which
they want to have the high accuracy of the understanding in order for the researchers to
understand on how the Malaysian women entrepreneurs can penetrate the international
market. Researcher were not using the quantitative methods as it will not clearly address
the issues and challenges that facing by women entrepreneurs to enter the international
market. Authors are not being biased towards women and men entrepreneurs which authors
keep giving their reasons on why actually the issues and challenges of women entrepreneurs
emerge in entering global market occurred.

My comments on the weaknesses of this article is that in this study most of participants
were married in which their roles were different from the single women entrepreneurs.
Authors likely mentioned the issues and challenges that occurred to married women
entrepreneurs but not to the single women entrepreneurs. Single women entrepreneur
especially that do not have children, they can give their effort all out in order to make sure
that their business can be expanded and ensuring that their business can penetrate the
international market. In this article, authors are not stating the issues and challenges for
single women entrepreneurs to enter the international market as most of participants are
married.

In order to support my opinion on the strength of article, it can be prove that women
entrepreneur does facing with issues and challenges such as gender inequality, a lot
responsibility and so on. For example, cultural issue that is gender inequality. Most women
in the workforce are in the category of low paid work and that women only own 15 per cent
of business enterprises in Malaysia. As such, women entrepreneurs generally earn lower
revenues and less income than male. Compared to men, women entrepreneurs encounter
many barriers to become successful (Wendy Ming Yen Teoh Siong, 2014). According to
the Asia-Pacific Human Development Report (2010), Malaysian women can only access
to 0.2 bank loans (within the scale of 0-full and 1-impossible) if compared with other. East
Asian countries like Japan, Korea, Thailand, Philippines and Myanmar where women can
have access to full bank loans. Culturally, women are considered less capable than men and
therefore they are seen of not deserving the same opportunities. This is especially true for
single mothers where their involvement in entrepreneurship is often prejudiced because of

6
 the perceived lack of formal education in management and other business skills (Wendy
Ming Yen Teoh Siong, 2014). Other than that, the same woman is responsible for
household chores and childcare back at home. There is no doubt that Malaysian women are
ranked as the 16th most stressed in the world because their spouses expect them to take up
housework and childcare after getting home from work without easing the burden of their
wives. Women entrepreneurs does carry a lot of responsibilities in which they have to focus
on their family and business at the same time. Work–family conflict is one of the major
reasons why women entrepreneurs fail in conducting their businesses. This conflict often
happens particularly amongst home-based businesses where there is a lack of support from
spouses due to over commitment of work than with family. The situation is expected to
worsen as the number of micro-enterprises grows in the country. These can be conclude
that Malaysian women are expected to lead as if they were mothers or teachers, rather than
taking on what is perceived to be the more traditional masculine role of formal leadership.
Worst still, many micro-enterprises owned by Malaysian women entrepreneurs are often
taken over by their spouses when the businesses grow into larger enterprises (Wendy Ming
Yen Teoh Siong, 2014). This shown it is true women entrepreneur felt stress because of
work either work-family or business which tend to keep their business small. At least
making a small profit then it is fine for them or if their business goes well, their spouses
might take over on it.

As the weaknesses of this article is that authors not highlighting the point of single women
entrepreneur issues and challenges, it can be prove that single women entrepreneur could
be more successful after dealing with differ issues from married women entrepreneur. For
example, Naelofar Hijab’s Brand which lead by Neelofa who is successful single women
entrepreneur and celebrity in Malaysia. According to Nurfatin Afiqah, (2018), Naelofar
Hijab often facing an issue with plagiarized. However, Naelofar Hijab always come up with
new collection so that they are not overtaken by them and Naelofar Hijab keep faster than
plagiaristic. Neelofa and her team decide to revolutionize and simplify modest fashion, to
make shawls more practical and easier to wear. This shown that single women
entrepreneurs like Neelofa had given her best effort when she is facing with the problem.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, women entrepreneur in Malaysia were struggle to deal with issues and
challenges in entering the international market. It is widely identified issue that women
have different strengths, characteristics and weaknesses compared to men. Thus, Malaysian
women entrepreneurs need to have a critical understanding of the entrepreneurial
orientation for them to succeed in their ventures regardless of size and location (Isa,
Jaganathan, Ahmdon, & Ibrahim, 2018). Before they could entering to international market,
they need to face issues that occurred in local market first. In order for them to establish
their business, they must overcome those issues and challenges in local market before they
can move forward to penetrate the international market.

7
 REFERENCES

Isa, F. M., Jaganathan, M., Ahmdon, M. A. S., & Ibrahim, H. M. (2018). Malaysian Women
Entrepreneurs: Some Emerging Issues and Challenges of Entering Global Market.
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(12), 1596–
1605.

Ismail, N. A. B., Kanesan, S. K., & Krishnan, K. (2018). An Analysis of Market Segmentation
(Naelofar Hijab’s Brand). International Journal of Business and Management Invention
(IJBMI) , 81–85. doi: 10.35631/ijemp.26003
Wendy Ming Yen Teoh Siong Choy Chong , (2014),"Towards strengthening the development of
women entrepreneurship in Malaysia", Gender in Management: An International Journal,
Vol. 29 Iss 7 pp. 432 - 453

8
5.0 APPENDICES

9
Malaysian Women Entrepreneurs: Some Emerging Issues and
Challenges of Entering Global Market
Filzah Md Isa, Mathivannan Jaganathan, Muhd Afiq Syazwan Ahmdon,
Hairunnisa Mohamad Ibrahim
To Link this Article: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i12/5261 DOI: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i12/5261

Received: 18 Oct 2018, Revised: 24 Dec 2018, Accepted: 06 Jan 2019

Published Online: 11 Jan 2019

In-Text Citation: (Isa, Jaganathan, Ahmdon, & Ibrahim, 2018)

To Cite this Article: Isa, F. M., Jaganathan, M., Ahmdon, M. A. S., & Ibrahim, H. M. (2018). Malaysian Women
Entrepreneurs: Some Emerging Issues and Challenges of Entering Global Market. International Journal of
Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(12), 1596–1605.

Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)

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 Malaysian Women Entrepreneurs: Some Emerging
Issues and Challenges of Entering Global Market
Filzah Md Isa
Taylor’s University, Malaysia

Mathivannan Jaganathan
Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia

Muhd Afiq Syazwan Ahmdon

Taylor’s University, Malaysia

Hairunnisa Mohamad Ibrahim

Taylor’s University, Malaysia

ABSTRACT
The involvement of women entrepreneur in Malaysia has increased in the past few decades and
significantly contributed to Malaysian economy development. However, some perennial issues
and challenges constantly impeding women entrepreneurs from dominating entrepreneurial
activities. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate issues and challenges related to
women entrepreneurs especially when entering the global market. Subsequently, the objectives
of this study are to gather and examine pertinent information on women entrepreneurs and
how successful women entrepreneurs in Malaysia prepared and handled issues and challenges
arise during their international market penetration. For the purpose of capturing the required
data, personal face-to-face interview with women entrepreneurs were conducted by using
purposive sampling approach. Specifically, 10 women entrepreneurs from the northern region
of Malaysia were involved in this study. The findings of this study provide some insights on
women issues and challenges specifically related to individual, organizational and
environmental factors. The results also will be helpful to the individual (spouse and family) and
government to give more support to the women entrepreneurs in terms of moral, financial and
non-financial.
Keywords: Women Entrepreneur, Issues and Challenges, Global market  Malaysia

INTRODUCTION
In light of recent events in the Malaysian entrepreneurial activities, it is becoming
extremely difficult to ignore the existence of Malaysian women entrepreneurs that involved in
the various business sectors since the last decades. Over the years, we have been observing an
emerging trend of more Malaysian women entrepreneurs choosing to start their own business
such as real estate, food and beverage, fashion apparel, trading, import and so on (Basha,
Pranav, Rao, Madhavi, & Sudha, 2013; Rozita, Rozita, Nur Syakiran Akmal, & Zalinah, 2015)
Recently, one of the mainstream newspapers also stated that one in five companies operated
by women entrepreneurs compared to last few decades based on the data provided by the
Statistics Department of Malaysia (Babulal, 2017). Moreover, 20.6% percentage of total SMEs in
Malaysia wholly own by women entrepreneurs (“SMEs are backbone of the economy,” n.d.). It
can be clearly seen through dramatic changes in Malaysian Economy rose to 37% in 2017.
However, support for SME growth and competitiveness has become mandatory due to
the 1997-1998 Malaysia financial crisis and also due to some other micro-issues such as training
on technology, marketing and access to finance. Moreover, government grants and funds such
as TEKUN, SME Corp, Amanah Ikthiar Malaysia (AIM) and Ministry of Women, Family and
Community Development (MWFCD) were introduced to encourage Malaysian Women to
become entrepreneurs. For example, TEKUN increased the fund up to RM100 million, MARA
prepared RM50 million through Dana Nita, and SME Bank through Women Entrepreneurs
Program (WEP) allocated RM200 million.
Although there are many past reports, academic and non-academic literature gave the
plausible impression on the number of women business formation, yet the number of successful
women entrepreneurs is far minimal compared to men, and men entrepreneurs still dominating
most of renown entrepreneurial activities (Alam, Senik, & Jani, 2012; Ariffin, Mohamed,
Baqutayan, & Mahdzir, 2017). In general, entrepreneurs plays a vibrant role in economic
development of their families and countries (Ali et al., 2017); but relatively women
entrepreneurs` business performance is still very low (Cooper, Gimeno-Gascon, & Woo, 1994;
Ekpe, Razak, & Mat, 2013; Hassan, Ramli, & Mat Desa, 2014; Marlow & Mcadam, 2013; Yassin,
Ali, Abdel, & Ali, 2014). Earlier studies also clearly indicated inconsistent findings on the
performance of women entrepreneurs. Some of the studies found that man`s business
performance is higher than women whereas women entrepreneurs have low-slung business
performance compared to male. Thus, the majority of their business remains small and marginal
as well as low in growth and competitiveness
Therefore, this in-depth case-study critically reviewed some developmental issues and
critical success factors by investigating issues and challenges in entering global market
particularly those who involved in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, a country
which always considered as one of the fastest developing economies in South East Asia region.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP, ISSUES, AND CHALLENGES

The world has experienced unprecedented growth of women entrepreneurship over the
past few decades where approximately 25% of businesses operated by women entrepreneurs.
For instance, United States of America that produced most successful global entrepreneurs also
makes up 39% of women entrepreneur which is only 29% in 2007 (Carlos M. Gutierrez, 2017).
Despite the tremendous changes in women entrepreneur`s growth but some unanticipated
challenges still persist regardless of country. Similar to other countries in the world, women
entrepreneurs in Malaysia also face various challenges in running their business operation.
Beside gender issue, some other challenges are trailing their success paths such as funding and
family support (Cabrera & Mauricio, 2017; Ekpe et al., 2013) . On the other hand, apart from
being homemakers, the women in Malaysia have essential roles to play in the economy of
Malaysia (Mohd. Nordin et al., 2011; Pandey, 2013)
Generally, women entrepreneurs associated with increased issues and challenges during
the process of initiating and running a business. For instance, cultural values have a limit to the
women entrepreneurs (C Mordi, Simpson, Singh, & Okafor, 2010). In reality, the traditional role
of women is still taking place in most of the Asian countries especially Malaysia. In an old fashion
society, women perceived as an individual who work at home taking care children and carrying
out household obligations as their core duty. In addition, women entrepreneurs are expected
to control their home chores while managing company definitely will cause conflicts and lead to
inappropriate business directions (Kian, Mi, & Chun, 2016). The dilemma for women
entrepreneurs has become a challenge and issue while having other responsibility. There is a
strong possibility that Malaysian women entrepreneurs give less attention to their business due
to their concern on family matters even they have an opportunity and support from government
agencies to conduct the business (Orser, Elliott, & Leck, 2011).
Another significant issue in women entrepreneurship is gender inequality. In terms of
loans and funds accessibility, women face challenges accessing compared to a male (Rozita et
al., 2015). Apart from that, women entrepreneurs may be relatively less well represented among
entrepreneurs but better represented in growth-oriented forms of entrepreneurship. Although
both male and women are similarly motivated by opportunity than necessity as a primary set up
business ventures, the failure rate amongst women is higher compared to male.
A few challenges were identified and found that several women entrepreneurs are still
facing numerous difficulties to start the business and during the development phase of their
enterprises. Previous study also reported Malaysian women entrepreneurs faced enormous
challenges from the local and international market during their business start-up, in domestic
operation, and in international business operation (Hodges et al., 2015; Ilhaamie, 2014;
Mahmood & Hanafi, 2013). However, these challenges did not impede them from being
successful in their business activities. Apparently, women seem to be successful in both local
and international markets compared to their male counterparts since they premeditated and
executed effective business strategies to supply their target markets.
Furthermore, due to a lot of duties and responsibilities, women entrepreneurs have less
desire to participate in many activities and tend to keep their business small to avoid
unprecedented conflicts. Both female and male entrepreneurs face relatively different business
constraints throughout the region, but these constraints possibly impede the women owned
enterprises more severe. Some interesting findings from past studies stated that successful
women in Canada or the USA usually related to those women who are unmarried and childless,
unlike Argentina and Mexico that involved married women with children (Wang, 2018).
Furthermore, access to financial resources also a major issue and challenge for women
entrepreneurs especially in the developing countries. In fact, women feel it’s an ultimate
challenge to raise fund and also fail to secure loan due to required collateral. This phenomenon
possibly related to culture and norms in the certain countries which restrict women to inherit
or own assets and social position (Dhillon, 2017; Watson, 2001). Previous studies stated that
women owned enterprises relatively smaller size, less profits and survival of the business is
shorter than male owned businesses (Cabrera & Mauricio, 2017; Mahmood & Hanafi, 2013;
Chima Mordi, Simpson, Singh, & Okafor, 2010; Pandey, 2013) .
METHODOLOGY
For the purpose of this study, case study method was employed since it provides first-hand information from participants. Case study gives
relatively high accuracy to the researcher to understand phenomenon rather than measure and evaluate by using quantitative method (Yin, 2002).
The sample settings for the case study were derived from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI’s) successful entrepreneurs list,
Penang Malay Chamber of Commerce (Dewan Perniagaan Pulau Pinang) and Majlis Amanah Rakyat Pulau Pinang (MARA). Purposive sampling was
used to approach women entrepreneurs in this study. The study focused on women entrepreneurs who were operating at the domestic and
international market.

Table 1.0 Summary of Personal and Business Background

COMPANY NAME

TYPES CASE 1: CASE 2: CASE 3: CASE 4: CASE 5: CASE 6: CASE 7: CASE 8: CASE 9: CASE 10:
CATEGORIES Madam A Madam B Madam C Madam D Madam E Madam F Madam G Miss H Madam I Madam J
Individual Factors Age Category 30-39 Years 40-59 Years 40-59 Years 40-59 Years 40-59 Years 40-59 Years 30 -39 30-39 20 -29
Years Years Years 40 - 59 Years
Marital Status Married Married Married Married Married Married Married Single Married Married
Education Education Level Postgraduate Secondary Tertiary Postgraduate Postgraduate Tertiary Secondary Tertiary Tertiary Postgraduate
Level Level Level (MBA) (DBA)
Business Are You The Sole No Yes No Yes Yes No No No No Yes
Background Owner of This
Business Entity?
This Business Is a Corporation Sole Corporation Partnership Partnership Corporation Partnership Partnership Sole Corporation
Proprietor Proprietor
Your Business 11-15 Years 11-15 Years More Than 6- 10 Years 1-5 Years More Than 11 – 15 6 To 10 6 To 10 11 - 15 Years
Experience 20 20 Years Years Years Years
Years
What Is the Size Medium 50- Small (10- Medium Small Medium 50- Medium Small Micro Medium Micro 1 - 9
of Your 249 49 50-249 10-49 249 50- 249 1- 9 50- 249 Employees
Company? Employees Employees Employees Employees Employees Employees Employees Employees
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No. 12, Dec, 2018, E-ISSN: 22 22 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

The researcher used personal face-to-face interview, confirmation via telephone and
secondary information such as documents, company profiles, and other related material describing
the company’s achievements or milestones. The structured interviews were done by the interviewer
who asked probing questions to the interviewee and then, through reflective prompts and active
listening, keeps them talking and then ask further specific questions. The structured interviews were
focused on questions explanation on how the women entrepreneurs penetrate international
markets.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Analysis of the cases was carried out by considering frequencies and the magnitude of the
research findings. A cross-case analysis was also conducted to emphasize the uniqueness of each
case. The synopsis of each case was also presented to provide insightful information regarding the
women entrepreneur’s business operations. Based on the Table 1.0, most of the participants were
above 30 years old except case 9. This is very common in the business due to most of the businesses
were started by entrepreneurs after 5 years of experiences upon completion of their studies.
Interestingly, most of the interviewed entrepreneurs were married except case 8. As
expected, most of the business owners are not the sole owner of the firm except Case 2 and Case 10.
Referring to the question “what are the biggest problems you encountered in the international
market? How did you overcome those problems?” (Case 2) implied that she does not require an
international business partner. However, the Case 7, 8, 9 and 10 provide a different answer regarding
this issue. Two of them do not require an international business partner (Case 7 and 10) whereas the
other two (Case 8 and 9) stated that they need an international partner in foreign countries who are
not a family member.
Table 1.1 Issues and Challenges Faced by Women Entrepreneurs
NO CASE What were the biggest problems you encountered in the international market? How
did you overcome those problems?
1 Case 1 China market only accepts big deal business.
2 Case 2 Culture of local market
3 Case 3 Different procedures and law restriction.
4 Case 4 Different ways of dealing the business, either CIF or FOB.
5 Case 5 Different ways of dealing the business, either CIF or FOB, different regulations.
6 Case 6 Fluctuation of exchange rates, have to bear the penalty if the product is damaged and
have to comply the green policy and requirement stated by customers.
7 Case 7 Finding support from the market like customer,distributor, supplier and also finance.
8 Case 8 Cash flow, paying back of interest and reinvestment
9 Case 9 One man show with a small office
10 Case Lack of referrals.
10

In relation to question " How did you overcome those problems??" Case 1 stated that she
believes that a backup plan will solve the issues. However, Case 2 responded that updating the
problems through meetings and being closer and not strict with the employees will help her control

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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No. 12, Dec, 2018, E-ISSN: 22 22 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

the business problems from becoming more serious. On the other hand, Case 3 mentioned that she
is willing to take the risk whenever problems become serious. Likewise, Case 4 used various strategies
to control business challenges. In contrast, Case 5 focusing on strategies in rolling the capital while
Case 6 controls the business problem by monitoring the rejection rate using a suitable system. In
relation to the similar question regarding controlling the business problem, the Case 7-10 provided
different responses. For instance, Case 7 mentioned that she will focus more on discussion with staff
and try her best to find out the root of the problem with them while Case 8 stated that she would
take charge of the problem and focus more on increasing promotion. Case 9 controls the problems
via communication, monitoring and taking proper action to control it. In contrast, Case 10 responded
that she will focus on her strength and tries to move away from the low-end segments.
To be able to succeed in the local and international market, every entrepreneur has to
properly control their problems from becoming serious; there are many strategies to do so. For
example, participant 2 (case 2) stated:
"I will conduct meeting with my staffs, I cannot be too strict, and I have to use proper strategies to
make them listen to my decision."
Case 8 said that:
" I will take charge of the problem, increase efforts in promotion, advertise in the internet where the
customers are found in the Facebook."
Case 10 mentioned that:
"I will focus on my strength and move away from the low-end segments."

To be a successful international business player, women entrepreneurs need to possess certain

entrepreneurial traits like persistence, risk-taking, passionate and confidence that strongly relate to
good moral values. Inherently, every women entrepreneur in Malaysia can possibly be a successful
entrepreneur if she maintains and preserves the individual factors as revealed in the study.
As suggested by women entrepreneurs who participated in this study, women entrepreneurs
in Malaysia should have a proper business plan, a distinct business format, sufficient business
information, business flexibility that is able to fit in any situation, having good access to ICT, able to
focus on cost competitiveness to compete with rivals, financial stability, a good business operation
management and wide business networking with various parties that may directly or indirectly
influence their business operation (Cabrera & Mauricio, 2017; Huck & McEwen, 1991). Once the
women entrepreneurs decide to expand their business to international level, they should be more
concerned with improving their marketing strategies to enable their business to fit in well in the
global arena.
Despite having a sufficient strength of organizational and individual factors, women
entrepreneurs should also realize the importance of the environmental factors that they may not be
able to control fully. Among the factors that exist in the international business environment that may
affect a women entrepreneur's business success are cultural differences between home and host
countries, the economic situation of both domestic and international countries and the legal
procedures. Even though these factors could influence their business to a certain extent, women
entrepreneurs may reduce their impacts by implementing a proactive strategy and anticipating the
outcomes of each factor while doing a preliminary study before venturing into the foreign markets.
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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Vol. 8 , No. 12, Dec, 2018, E-ISSN: 22 22 -6990 © 2018 HRMARS

Women entrepreneurs should also realize that there are many other environmental factors that may
appear from time to time once they embarked on an international business. Precautionary steps
should be prepared during the decision-making process of entering any new international market.
Regardless of how ready a women entrepreneur with the three main factors namely
individual, organizational and environmental factors, their international business success may face
some particular problems if they are not equipped with a suitable decision-making strategy,
controlling strategy and leadership styles. These three factors may act as the mediating factors in the
success of the internationalization process. A good decision maker will use various strategies that suit
the current business context. In addition, only a genuine risk-taker can sense the best way out of a
problem and able to realize and grab the new potential opportunities.
According to most of the participants, their spouse and family members provide support for
their business expansion, i.e. moral and advice. However, there are also women entrepreneurs who
mentioned they did not receive any support from both parties. Thus, they only believe in themselves
and never look for any specific support from others. This shows that women can be successful without
men's assistance if she firmly believes in herself and in her passion for doing the business right. In
other words, men can just moderate the success of a women entrepreneur and not act as an essential
determinant of their success.

CONCLUSIONS
This paper has identified some major issues and problems among women entrepreneurs in
the context of international market. It has clearly contributed some significant findings and insights
on developmental issues on women entrepreneurship. It is widely identified issue that women have
different strengths, characteristics and weaknesses compared to men. Thus, Malaysian women
entrepreneurs need to have a critical understanding of the entrepreneurial orientation for them to
succeed in their ventures regardless of size and location. These orientations include confidence,
persistence, strong willpower, risk-taking, creativity and innovativeness can be embedded within the
women entrepreneurs through short courses, training programs, mentoring or even long-term
courses. It would be helpful to capture quantitative perspective to find the most trend of women
entrepreneurs in international market. Since this research focus on northern region of Malaysia,
further research should explore the different region women entrepreneurs and their international
business strategies.

Corresponding Author
Dr. Filzah Md Isa, Associate Professor, Taylors University, Lakeside Campus, Jalan Taylor's, 47500
Subang Jaya, Selangor Malaysia.
Email: [email protected]

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Towards strengthening the development of women entrepreneurship in Malaysia
Wendy Ming Yen Teoh Siong Choy Chong
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GM
29,7
Towards strengthening the
development of women
entrepreneurship in Malaysia
432 Wendy Ming Yen Teoh
Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia, and
Received 8 October 2013
Revised 2 April 2014 Siong Choy Chong
Accepted 15 August 2014 Finance Accreditation Agency, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to identify developmental issues associated with women
entrepreneurship, with the Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as a base. Subsequently,
the paper also aims to devise certain stratagems and new policies for ensuring women entrepreneurial
growth.
Design/methodology/approach – An overview of the issues surrounding women entrepreneurship
development in Malaysia is provided, drawing on the extant literature. The issues comprise cultural
barriers, lack of spousal support, gender inequality, lack of confidence, weak social and business
networking, few laws to support working families and neglected women entrepreneurs in the cottage
industry, as well as domestic help and home-based childcare.
Findings – Based on the issues identified, strategies are proposed to address them, contextualising on
the gender aspect of women entrepreneurship.
Practical implications – A summary is provided on the research and practical gaps from the
perspective of strengthening women entrepreneurship and with the aim of encouraging further
research in this area. The paper posits that an understanding of the gender aspect on issues related to
the development of women entrepreneurship in Malaysia is required if policy measures are to be
constructive in assisting women entrepreneurs in achieving their full entrepreneurial potential.
Originality/value – Very limited studies have been undertaken in the past to assess the issues faced
by women entrepreneurs in the context of overall development of women entrepreneurship. This is of
great value to an SME-dominated economy such as Malaysia where the paper provides a
comprehensive summary of the strategies and policy measures required to strengthen women
entrepreneurship development.
Keywords Malaysia, Entrepreneurship, Small and medium enterprises, Women entrepreneurs
Paper type Viewpoint

Introduction
Women entrepreneurship has become an area of great interest and concern amongst
researchers. This is understandable, as many countries have widened the access of
women to entrepreneurial ventures, a privilege which was largely provided to men in the
Gender in Management: An past. As more and more success stories of women entrepreneurs are showcased, many
International Journal women who are either housewives or employed are inspired to start up their own
Vol. 29 No. 7, 2014
pp. 432-453 businesses. At the same time, the already successful ones are trying to move away from
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited emulating their successful male counterparts. As a matter of fact, women entrepreneurs
1754-2413
DOI 10.1108/GM-10-2013-0122 are beginning to set standards of behaviours that distinguish them in an attempt to
 create an identity of “her” own rights. All these developments create a totally new Development of
playing field as women entrepreneurs compete with their male counterparts for the
same business opportunities.
women
The literature suggests that women and men entrepreneurs react to the same entrepreneurship
environment differently due to the characteristics attributed to gender dissimilarities
(Croson and Gneezy, 2004). Such differences explain the differing strategies adopted by
men and women entrepreneurs in approaching the same issues, trends, opportunities 433
and threats. Developmental programmes should therefore factor into account such
differences. Unfortunately, it has been reported that many women who have attended
training and development programmes in entrepreneurship found the programmes to
be prescriptive and, at worst, male-orientated [Association of Organisations of
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Mediterranean Businesswomen (AFAEMME), 2013].

This paper reviews the developmental issues associated with women
entrepreneurship, particularly amongst those who are involved in small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, a country acknowledged as one of the fastest
developing economies in the Southeast Asian region. It is based upon the review that
constructive strategies are proposed for the continuing growth of women
entrepreneurial ventures through the implementation of appropriate developmental
plans. In conjunction with this, new policies are also suggested with the proposition that
such a development plan can only come to fruition if policy measures are taken seriously
by the policymakers as a primary means of supporting women entrepreneurs in
achieving their truest entrepreneurial potential. Should this become a reality, the gains
can be astronomical as women entrepreneurs could contribute equally to strengthening
the economy. The paper ends with the information gaps identified as a result of this
review, as well as issues that remained unanswered with the aim of encouraging further
research in this area.

Development of women entrepreneurship in Malaysia

The world is witnessing a boom in women entrepreneurship where 25 per cent of the
businesses are owned by women. Specifically, in the USA, 38 per cent of the businesses
are owned by women (Rosmah, 2010. Russian women constitute over one fourth of all
the owners of private businesses (Iakovleva and Kickul, 2011). In China, 25 per cent of
businesses are possessed by women since 1978. About 23 per cent of the private
companies owned by women have been established in Japan (Rosmah, 2010, whilst 31
per cent of European women involved in entrepreneurship as their career (Jong, 2013). In
Malaysia, women entrepreneurs are becoming a force to reckon with, particularly in
recent years due to the acknowledgement that they are the key contributors to the
economic growth of the country. The number of women entrepreneurs in Malaysia has
since increased due to the support and guidance provided by the government, private
sector and non-governmental organisations over the past decade. According to the latest
census, from the 645,136 active SMEs in operation, 127,091 or 19.7 per cent are owned by
women (Hamzah, 2012) compared to 82,911 or 16 per cent in 2005 (Farah Zamira, 2013).
The majority of female-owned enterprises focussing in the services sector amounting to
as much as 91.7 per cent of their overall participation as SMEs, followed by
manufacturing at 6.9 per cent with the remaining in construction, agriculture or mining
[Women Entrepreneurs Network Association (WENA), 2012].
 GM The women entrepreneurs are assisted to avail themselves of the schemes and
support facilities provided by the various ministries and government agencies in
29,7 Malaysia (Bernama, 2011). To produce more quality and productive women
entrepreneurs, the Department of Women Development and the Malaysian Trust
Initiative (Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia) have provided skill trainings and
entrepreneurship programmes to more than 3,000 women under the 2010 budget
434 (Malaysia website, 2010). Furthermore, the Teman 1Azam (Companion with
1Resolution) provided a grant of RM4.7 million (USD1.5 million) to 946 Malaysian
women entrepreneurs (Bernama, 2010). The two main purposes for these initiatives are
to reduce poverty and increase employment opportunity for women. Besides,
microcredit and microfinance schemes and entrepreneurial workshops or training
programmes like Awareness Campaign, Bestari Helpdesks, Rebranding Exercise,
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Media Relations Campaign and Networking Exercise have also been introduced to rural
women entrepreneurs to assist them to be capable of running, sustaining and improving
their businesses in an efficient way [(United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
2008]. Insofar, there are more than 12,000 women entrepreneurs involved in various
programmes under the SME Corporation (Bernama, 2011).
In addition, nearly 40,000 women entrepreneurs have benefited from other
microcredit loans provided by the Economic Fund for National Venture Group (Tabung
Ekonomi Kumpulan Usaha Niaga) (TEKUN Nasional) and the Rural Economy
Financing Schemes between 2006 and 2010 (Bernama, 2011). As of 31 March 2012, a
total of RM179.55 million (USD52.5 million) financial schemes have been approved to
assist women entrepreneurs in their businesses (see Table I and Table II).

Year Approvals Amount approved (million)* Disbursement (million)*

August 1999a 95 9.5 n/a

31 December 2000b 153 11.48 n/a
31 December 2001c 270 17.16 n/a
31 May 2002d 331 18.02 n/a
30 April 2003e 379 26.73 7.92
31 March 2004f 396 32.24 7.92
31 August 2005g 500 46.58 15.55
31 December 2005h 531 50.9 n/a
31 August 2006i 523 51.97 21.99
31 August 2007j 849 85.39 22.23
30 April 2008k 1,166 90.45 22.23
31 December 2008l 1,576 111.26 n/a
31 March 2009m 1,793 116.83 n/a
31 October 2009n 2,319 138.80 n/a
30 November 2010o 3,440 179.07 n/a
31 December 2011p 2,997 179.53 n/a
31 March 2012q 3,446 179.55 n/a

Table I. Notes: * USD 0.33 ⫽ RM1 ** Developed by the authors

Special assistance scheme Sources: Economic Report (2003) a,b,c,d,e,f,g,i,j,k,l,o,p Small and Medium Industries Development
for women entrepreneurs, Corporation (SMIDEC); h Bank Negara Malaysia (2005); j Statistics on Women, Family and Social
Malaysia, 1999-2012** Welfare (2007); m Malaysia SME Online (2009); n Hee (2009); Bernama Media (2012)
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Financial scheme 2000a 2001b 2002c 2003d 2004e 2005f 2006g 2007h 2008i 2010j 2011k

Industrial Technical Assistance Fund (ITAF) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Financial Package for SMIs (PAKSI) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Soft Loan for Small and Medium Enterprises (SLSME) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Y2K Grant ✓ ✓
Y2K Grant (Phase 1) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Y2K Grant (Phase 2) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
E-Commerce ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Small and Medium Industry of Terengganu ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Easy Loan ✓ ✓ ✓
E-Design ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
E-Manufacturing ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Business Start Up ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Product and Process Improvement ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Certificate and Quality Management Systems ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Market Development Grant (MDG) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Industrial Technical Assistance Fund 4 ✓ ✓ ✓
Special Federal Government Fund (DKKP) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Packaging and Labelling ✓ ✓
Development and Promotion of Halal Products ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Special Scheme for SME in the Service Sector ✓ ✓
Enhancing Product Packaging ✓ ✓
Soft Loans for ICT (SLICT) ✓ ✓
Soft Loan for Factory Relocation ✓* ✓*
Modernisation and Automation Scheme (MAS) ✓* ✓*
Factory Auditing ✓* ✓*
RosettaNet ✓* ✓*
Quality Enhancement Scheme (QES) ✓* ✓*
Flood Assistance Scheme ✓*
Enrichment and Enhancement Programme (E2) ✓*
Business Accelerator Programme (BAP) ✓
Note: * No approval for women-owned companies
j,k
Sources: a,b,c,d,e,f,g,i SMIDEC; h Statistics on Women, Family and Social Welfare, 2007; SME Corp. Malaysia; ** Developed by the authors

Table II.

2000-2008, 2010-2011**
women entrepreneurs,
Financial schemes for
435
entrepreneurship
women
Development of
 GM The 2013 Budget has also allocated RM50 million (USD16.5 million) specifically for
programmes such as Skills Incubator for Single Mothers (Inkubator Kemahiran Ibu
29,7 Tunggal) (I-Kit) and Get Malaysian Business Online (Mohd Najib, 2012) to empower
women. In line with the New Economic Model introduced by the government in 2010,
Malaysian women are strongly encouraged to venture into the service industry and
knowledge-based activities such as communications, education, tourism, green
436 technology and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) (Bernama, 2011).
Additionally, Women Exporters Development Programme under the Malaysian
External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) has assisted 71 women-owned
companies to venture abroad since 2005 (Mukhriz, 2012). MATRADE has also
announced the establishment of The Malaysian Women in Export Directory to help
promote and grow women-owned businesses. Moreover, Kirkby International College in
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collaboration with Women Entrepreneurs Network Associations (WENA) is offering

office space, training facilities and business English courses for its members. All of these
help women to feel more confident in launching or expanding their businesses (WENA,
2013).
Despite the support given, the trend of becoming an entrepreneur in Malaysia is
rather low where there is only an increase of 55 per cent over 25 years which is equal to
about 4.58 per cent growth per year, i.e. 1.2 million in 1982 and 2.2 million in 2008. A
similar trend is also noticed across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) countries where only 2.2 per cent of women participating in the
labour market were employers in 2011, down from 2.8 per cent in 2000 (Piacentini, 2013).
As shown in Figure 1, the participation rate in terms of gender has decreased slightly
(3.3 per cent for males and 5.4 per cent for females) over the past quarter century and that
the growth rate of women entrepreneurs is not parallel with their male counterparts
(Kelley et al., 2012). In fact, a study by MasterCard Worldwide Insight (2010) reveals that
Malaysian women SME owners (9.7 per cent) had the lowest representation in terms of
the annual average growth rate between 2000 and 2008 as compared to male SME
owners (16.5 per cent). Furthermore, between 2004 and 2007, self-employed Malaysian
women only constitute a very small proportion (1.3 per cent) compared to those of
self-employed male (4.6 per cent) (The World’s Women: Trends and Statistics Report,
2010). Overall, the number of male entrepreneurs doubles that of females (Department of
Statistics Malaysia, 2009).
In terms of size, the majority of women-owned SMEs are micro in size (88 per cent),
followed by small- (11.3 per cent) and medium-size establishments (0.8 per cent)
(Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2012) which are more likely to be home-based, and
the percentage of women ownership declines with the firm size (Ng, 2011). As Hamzah
(2012) elucidates, women entrepreneurs are disproportionately represented in the
micro-SME and informal SME sectors. Likewise, across the OECD countries, the women
business enterprises are significantly small and even have low growth expectations
(Jong, 2013).
Table III further provides evidence that the participation of women as employers and
own account workers is still low compared to their male counterparts since 1970s.
According to the Global Gender Gap Report (2012), Malaysia only has 13 per cent of
firms with female participation in ownership compare to Indonesia (43 per cent) and
Vietnam (59 per cent) (Hausmann et al., 2012). The country has merely 9 per cent (which
is 30 per cent less than in the Philippines and Thailand) of women involving in
 Development of
women
entrepreneurship

437
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Figure 1.
Number and percentage
distribution of
entrepreneurs by gender
in Malaysia (1982-2008)

entrepreneurial activity (APEC Project, 2013). As a result, the aim to increase the
number of Malaysian women in business from 8 to 35 per cent by 2020 remains a
challenge (The Star Online, 2011).
It can be seen that much efforts have been put in by the Malaysian Government and
related agencies to produce qualified and professional women entrepreneurs. However,
 GM Unpaid family
29,7 Gender Year Total (%) Employer Employee Own account worker worker

Male 1970* 100.0 4.2 49.3 31.9 14.6

1980* 100.0 4.0 59.6 28.3 8.1
1991* 100.0 3.6 64.1 28.3 4.0
2000*** 100.0 3.9 73.8 19.6 2.7
438 2007*,** 100.0 4.6 72.6 20.1 2.7
2008** 100.0 4.7 72.2 20.5 2.6
2009** 100.0 4.9 72.9 19.8 2.4
2010** 100.0 4.8 73.7 19.1 2.4
2011** 100.0 4.7 74.8 18.1 2.4
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2012**** 100.0 5.0 73.7 18.7 2.6

Female 1970* 100.0 2.3 36.9 18.0 42.8
1980* 100.0 3.0 53.5 23.8 19.7
1991* 100.0 2.0 70.8 16.7 10.5
2000*** 100.0 0.8 75.8 11.9 11.5
2007*,** 100.0 1.3 77.3 12.5 8.8
2008** 100.0 1.4 78.9 11.7 8.1
2009** 100.0 1.5 78.3 12.2 7.9
2010** 100.0 1.6 79.5 11.6 7.4
Table III. 2011** 100.0 1.6 79.8 11.2 7.3
Percentage distribution of 2012**** 100.0 1.5 77.0 12.9 8.5
employed persons by
employment status and Notes: * Malaysia (2003, 2007) (cited in Penang Monthly, 2012); ** Malaysia Labour Force Survey
gender in Malaysia (1970- Report (2011a); *** Malaysia Labour Force Survey (2000) (cited in Ministry of Women, Family and
2012) Community Development, 2003); **** Malaysia Labour Force Survey Report (2012a)

there are certain issues which have limited the growth and progress of women
entrepreneurs as discussed in the following section.

Issues surrounding Malaysian women entrepreneurs

Cultural barriers
Cultural values limit women entrepreneurs to expose themselves to the business world
(Mordi et al., 2010; Piacentini, 2013). This corroborates the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) Project (2013) which reported that cultural norms regarding the
role of woman in family and labour practices are perceived as major restricting factors
for businesswomen in Malaysia. Although Malaysia is a multiracial country, the Malays
(who make up approximately 60 per cent of the total population of 28.66 million) still
stress the traditional roles of women (Lewis and Ayudhya, 2006), so do the other
ethnicities such as the Malaysian Chinese and Indians. In fact, the traditional roles of
women are still emphasised upon in many parts of the Asian countries. Accordingly,
women are expected to be conservative, prudent and attentive. In a traditional society,
these traits work wonders when women are at home where taking care of children and
performing household duties are considered as their core responsibilities (Orser et al.,
2011). Although many women are increasingly being employed today, the view of such
employment ought to be distinguished from those who run their own businesses.
 A women entrepreneur who is expected to manage the home front and, at the same Development of
time, oversee her company would certainly face conflicts and may, at times, be pulled in
different directions. Quoting Hashim et al. (2012, p.428):
women
The stereotypical views that women entrepreneurs cannot balance their career and family
entrepreneurship
seem to persist. This perspective is especially prevalent in many Malay novels that portray
women engaged in professional or managerial positions. Successful Malay Muslim women, it
would seem, have difficulty maintaining their marriages if they are overly committed to their 439
work. They make irrational choices and learn lesson the hard way. To reiterate, this
construction of a Malay Muslim women entrepreneur shows the conventions women must
follow regardless of how educated they are and how successful they seem to be. They must
subscribe to certain values pervasive in the Malay Muslim worldview.
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A survey conducted by Grant Thornton and the Malaysian Institute of Management in

Jasani (2002), as cited in Salim and Ghadas, 2012 reported that the majority of family
businesses in Malaysia comprise small-scale enterprises and are managed by the
founder. With many of the Malaysian Chinese involved in business, inherited
businesses from the older generation will be handed over to the younger generation; in
this case, sons are preferred over daughters regardless of the competencies they
possessed. The same can be observed in the Malaysian Indian society. This is because in
Chinese and Indian family businesses, the male successor carries the family name
(Amran and Che Ahmad, 2010). Moreover, males are seen to be risk-takers compared to
their female counterparts. This situation appears to be no different from even the
European women where 40 per cent reported as being risk-averse by the 2009
Eurobarometer (Piacentini, 2013). Additionally, men are seen to be more competitive,
aggressive, have larger networks, more supportive and are able to face competition.
Because of this, there is a general perception that men tend to outperform women in
business. This is perhaps one key reason which may have pulled Malaysian feminists
off to actively involve themselves in the business arena. Many women entrepreneurs
show greater concern on family matters (either dictated by nature or shaped by the
common belief) even if they have an opportunity to expand their businesses.

Lack of spousal support

Related to the cultural barrier is the lack of spousal support. Women entrepreneurs
experience unique difficulties and problems which limit their economic performance
and jeopardise their personal feelings of achievement and satisfaction (Bowen and
Hisrich, 1986; Hisrich and Brush, 1984, 1987; Loscocco et al., 1991). One of the unique
problems is balancing the conflicting role demands of work and family. As a matter of
fact, this factor has been mentioned to increasingly detract women entrepreneurs from
satisfaction and well-being as business owners.
Research has shown that entrepreneurs are more likely to experience higher levels of
stress due to their heavy workload, as well as the assumption of risk in their business
activities and operations (Dewe and Guest, 1990; Akande, 1994; Harris et al., 1999) and
this is equally applicable to women entrepreneurs as well. In The Netherlands, 50 per
cent of the women entrepreneurs work less than 25 hours per week (Piacentini, 2013).
However, the Malaysia Labour Force Survey Report (2012b) indicates that Malaysian
women entrepreneurs spend an average of 50.2 hours on work per week compared to the
47.0 hours spent by women employees where there is an increase of 1.4 hours and 0.1
hour, respectively, compared to 2011. Ironically, the working hours spent per week is the
 GM same as their male counterparts (Malaysia Labour Force Survey Report, 2011b). Yet, the
same woman is responsible for household chores and childcare back at home. There is
29,7 no doubt that Malaysian women are ranked as the 16th most stressed in the world
because, according to Ee (2011), their spouses expect them to take up housework and
childcare after getting home from work without easing the burden of their wives.
Roddin et al. (2011) mention that work–family conflict is one of the major reasons
440 why women entrepreneurs fail in conducting their businesses. This conflict often
happens particularly amongst home-based businesses where there is a lack of support
from spouses (Schoff, 2012) due to over commitment of work than with family (Hashim
et al., 2012). The situation is expected to worsen as the number of micro-enterprises
grows (Selamat et al., 2011) in the country.
These led Freeland (2012 to conclude that Malaysian women are expected to lead as
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if they were mothers or teachers, rather than taking on what is perceived to be the more
traditional masculine role of formal leadership. Worst still, many micro-enterprises
owned by Malaysian women entrepreneurs are often taken over by their spouses when
the businesses grow into larger enterprises.

Gender inequality
Another cultural issue is gender inequality. Most women in the workforce are in the
category of low paid work and that women only own 15 per cent of business enterprises
in Malaysia. As such, women entrepreneurs generally earn lower revenues and less
income than males (Kelley et al., 2011). Compared to men, women entrepreneurs
encounter many barriers to become successful (World Bank, 2012). For instance, they
face challenges accessing to credit and bank loans (Centre for Development and
Population Activities (CEDPA), 2009; Teoh and Chong, 2008). According to the
Asia-Pacific Human Development Report (2010), Malaysian women can only access to
0.2 bank loans (within the scale of 0 ⫽ full and 1⫽ impossible) if compared with other
East Asian countries like Japan, Korea, Thailand, Philippines and Myanmar where
women can have access to full bank loans. Culturally, women are considered less
capable than men and therefore they are seen of not deserving the same opportunities.
This is especially true for single mothers where their involvement in entrepreneurship is
often prejudiced because of the perceived lack of formal education in management and
other business skills (Roddin et al., 2011).
Similar trend is also observed amongst the European women entrepreneurs where
they are less likely to have obtained their last loan from a bank due to lack of familiarity
with finance and accounting practices (Coleman and Robb, 2012; OECD, 2012). Besides,
the rejection of credit application rate for European women (4.3 per cent) is higher than
men (2.3 per cent) (Piacentini, 2013). Due to this, the gender pay gap persists for women
entrepreneurs. To overcome this issue, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community
Development is targeting to produce more women entrepreneurs who are able to earn
more than RM3,500 (USD1,143) per month (The Star Online, 2010).

Lack of confidence
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Global Report (2012), Malaysian
entrepreneurs, be they male or female, generally lack confidence in doing businesses.
Only 31 per cent of Malaysian entrepreneurs perceive that they have the capabilities of
operating businesses, and this rate is considered low compared to the neighbouring
 Thailand (46 per cent) and Pakistan (49 per cent). In Asia–Pacific and South Asia Development of
economies, although the fear of failure rate amongst Malaysian entrepreneurs reduced
by 9.3 per cent compared to 45.3 per cent in 2010, it is still higher compared to Pakistan
women
(31 per cent). Xavier et al. (2013) lend support to this finding where Malaysians have entrepreneurship
merely 13 per cent of entrepreneurial intention and that the total early-stage
entrepreneurial activity (TEA) rate is relatively low, although it has increased by 2.6 per
cent compared to 4.4 per cent in 2009. Nevertheless, Malaysia is still lagging as much as 441
20 per cent behind compared to countries which hold the highest TEA rate with
international orientation (Xavier et al., 2010).
From the gender perspective, women in Malaysia tend to display lower perceptions
of capabilities, opportunities and intention. Although both men and women are
similarly motivated by opportunity than necessity as the primary motive in setting up
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business ventures, the fear of failure rate amongst Malaysian women entrepreneurs is
higher than men as they lack positive attitudes about their own personal capacities
(Kelley et al., 2011). This is reinforced by a report in the Malaysian Business (2013) which
notes that amongst the key factors holding women back from entrepreneurship are lack
of skills and confidence in entrepreneurial abilities and hence the fear of failure. The low
TEA rate offers a partial explanation as to why Malaysian women are less likely to
become entrepreneurs.

Weak social and business networking

Systematic networking plays a vital role in providing entrepreneurs with a variety of
information sources which assist them to accomplish their goals (Ripolles and Blesa,
2005; Welter and Kautonen, 2005) and enhance the participation of women in
entrepreneurship (Ahmad and Naimat, 2010). Evidence suggests that networks are
important not only to make connections with other business owners but also to impart
skills and knowledge related to running a business effectively (Hisrich and Brush, 1984).
Unfortunately, according to studies undertaken at Harvard and MIT, women have
very weak networks in commercial marketplace (Guest Author, 2011). Kelley et al. (2011)
reported that compared to men, Malaysian women have lesser personal contacts with
other entrepreneurs. Because of this, women are less likely to venture into
entrepreneurship. In addition, networks of women entrepreneurs are generally smaller
and less diverse than those of their male counterparts, and women tend to draw more on
their personal relationships, particularly family than on other sources (Dhaliwal, 2000;
Teoh and Chong, 2008). Without a strong social and business networking, many women
entrepreneurs face financial, socio-cultural and legal barriers to scale up their
businesses.

Few laws to support working family

Laws especially related to childcare subsidies and temporary assistance for needy
family (TANF) programme to support women entrepreneurs in Malaysia are not
available. This has become an issue for women entrepreneurs, particularly single
mothers with low income and who run micro– businesses, as they are the ones in need of
most help and support. In Singapore, self-employed parents have the privilege where
they are entitled for six days per year of childcare leave and/or infant care leave until the
year the child turns seven years old (under Part IX of the Employment Act and Part III
of the Child Development Co-Savings Act), as long as they are engaged in a particular
 GM business/trade/profession for a continuous duration of at least three months and has lost
income as a result of not engaging in the trade, business, profession or vocation during
29,7 the childcare leave period. The last three days of leave will be paid for by the
government which is capped at SGD500, including contributions to the Central
Provident Fund (CPF). From 1 May 2013, self-employed parents are also eligible for two
days of extended childcare leave every year if the youngest child is aged between seven
442 and 12 years old. These leaves will also paid by the government (capped at SGD500,
including CPF contributions) (Ministry of Manpower, 2013). With this law, it eases the
burden of women entrepreneurs who need money to support their family members,
especially single mothers and those within the lower income bracket.
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Neglected women entrepreneurs in the cottage industry

The majority of entrepreneurs who run the cottage industry in Malaysia are women
(Hashim et al., 2012) with many of them involved in the food and beverage, clothing and
retailing sectors (Suaibah et al., 2005). Based on the Economic Census (2011) report,
women-owned establishments in the food and beverage sector accounted for 37.2 per
cent in 2010. There are also more than two-thirds of women-owned establishments in the
manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparel and leather products with a gross output of
RM540.8 million (USD178.5 million) and a value added of RM257 million (USD84.8
million). As such, this industry deserves special attention in this paper.
From the standpoint of credit facilities and mechanisation, high employment
opportunities in the cottage industry in developing countries are very negligible,
although the industry offers a huge advantage. Although not rare, cottage industries
often produce their products in huge quantity upon request by certain circles, but the
industry also faces difficulties in marketing and distributing its products. One of the
reasons cited is that the products produced especially by women entrepreneurs often
lack design and do not carry a brand and packaging, hence do not allow the products to
go beyond the borders of Malaysia (UNDP, 2005). Besides, entrepreneurs in this
industry have to deal with suppliers and retailers and selling their products at lower
prices and in the conventional way (Astarina, 2011). These have limited their
opportunities in expanding their businesses. Besides, women entrepreneurs in this
industry also lack micro-enterprise skills (UNDP, 2005).
Related to the industry is the informal sector whereby it was found that 31 per cent of
women entrepreneurs do not register formally compared to those in Singapore (14 per
cent) and the USA (9 per cent) (Farah Zamira, 2013). This is probably due to the
difficulties in getting a licence or permit from the local authorities because the majority
of women entrepreneurs work at home and that their business sizes are usually small.

Domestic help and home-based childcare

Childcare cost related to raising a child represents one of the largest percentages of
increase. In Malaysia, the total cost to raise a child today is approximately RM1.1 million
(USD 330,000) (New Straits Times, 2013). This is a prevalent problem faced by women
entrepreneurs with children. Childcare becomes a burden for women entrepreneurs
which might affect their businesses (APEC Project, 2013). Based on the study by APEC
Project (2013), women entrepreneurs from Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand are
heavily relying on family and domestic help, particularly Indonesian maids, on
childcare issues. Due to a number of cases related to the physical abuse of Indonesian
 maids, women entrepreneurs are increasingly requesting support from the government Development of
to build more childcare facilities to assist them to take care of their children so that they
can focus on their businesses.
women
entrepreneurship
Policy recommendations
To begin with, a change in mentality towards entrepreneurship as a career choice and
the perception on women entrepreneurship are important considerations which can 443
possibly be achieved through a more holistic education system that fosters
entrepreneurial skills, gender equality and, more importantly, cultural change. Because
entrepreneurship education has been recognised as one of the important determinants
that could affect career decision of students (Ooi et al., 2011), it is vital to inculcate
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entrepreneurial culture and the sense of equity amongst the younger generation (as
early as during the secondary level of education) to increase their understanding and
appreciation of the roles and significance of entrepreneurs along with the context of
gender. Above all, emphasis must be given to inculcate entrepreneurship as the first
career option rather than as the last resort, particularly amongst the female students for
they account for the majority of university students in Malaysia (Trading Economics,
2012), yet the number of unemployed women graduates is higher than male, i.e. 19.5 per
cent compared to male (14.4 per cent) (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2011).
Further, the education system can play an intervention role to change the perception
of Malaysians towards risk and the promotion of innovative thinking. Accordingly, the
education system must emphasise on risk-taking behaviour of entrepreneurs and instil
the importance of making informed and innovative decisions on the basis of weighing
the risk factors. This is important as education has been found to be interrelated to the
likelihood of starting a business for both the genders (Brush, 2012). Emphasising
women, the higher the education level and the more the experience they possess, the
lower the fear of failure and the greater the belief of their capabilities to become
entrepreneurs.
In addition, encouraging the participation of female students in co-curricular
activities such as entrepreneurship societies, business plan competitions and fun fairs in
which students participate as entrepreneurs, to name a few, can allow their male
counterparts to develop the sense of gender equality, as well as allow female students to
develop the confidence that they too are capable of running their own businesses.
Besides, schools can conduct a programme which allows female students at the upper
secondary level to have an alternative option to attend the 8-12 weeks of vocational
training programmes during the year-end school holidays. Schools are responsible to
select the host company, and its quality can increase the self-concept of the ability of the
students towards the project within the training period. Such an effort is to be
strengthened at the tertiary level where entrepreneurship is to be introduced as a
core module to imbue students with relevant skills. In so saying, the skills and
knowledge acquired should not be limited to traditionally “feminine” fields, but it should
also cover other vocational and technical fields like engineering, construction,
agriculture and the like which can attract more female students to start up businesses in
these areas. In addition, female students should be encouraged to take up internships in
the micro-, small and medium enterprises in Malaysia.
The higher education institutions (HEIs) should host regular speaker series by
inviting prominent entrepreneurs, including women business owners, to share their
 GM experience not only in terms of how to plan, start, manage and grow their businesses but
also the challenges faced and how they are overcome. This kind of programme can
29,7 eventually inspire and motivate the Malaysian female students in entrepreneurial
development. The women speakers can be mentors for the students and provide more
current and useful counsel similar to the initiatives by the European Union through the
setting up of the European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors and the
444 Network of Mentors for Women Entrepreneurs.
Related to gender inequality is access to funds. The literature suggests that flexibility
and equity are required in the allocation of funding, particularly to women
entrepreneurs. Besides the government, venture capitalists, angel investors, business
associations and banking institutions could also play an important role to help women
entrepreneurs realise good commercial ideas by accessing to financing at the early stage
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of business. This is because the policy, whereby women entrepreneurs with viable
business plans are given priority in funding, can be effective in developing a larger pool
of women entrepreneurs. For this, the Malaysian banks can distribute some specific
funds similar to the “Going for Growth” programme practiced by the Irish Government
for women entrepreneurs who need funds to expand their existing business ventures.
In addition, the micro-finance schemes need to target women entrepreneurs,
including those who operate informal businesses as well as those aged 55 and older.
This is due to the fact that business start-ups in Malaysia have since broadened to
include a majority of women entrepreneurs between the age of 55 and 64 years (Malaysia
Labour Force Survey Report, 2011c). Further, the population of women retirees is
growing older compared to men where the number of women aged 65 years and above
will rise from the current 51.6 to 54.6 per cent by 2050 (Wolfe and Langley, 2013).
Therefore, it becomes imperative for the policymakers to encourage women retirees to
engage in business to generate their own retirement income and to avoid from facing the
risk of old age poverty. This calls for an increasing level of awareness that elderly
women can bring positive impacts to the society instead of negative impacts of ageing
(Hodges, 2012).
Because the majority of women entrepreneurs found that business-related
information is hard to obtain and is not transparent (APEC Project, 2013), business
agencies or associations can publish resource handbooks and guides for them.
Accordingly, these booklets should contain a compilation of current credit agencies,
supporting programmes, outreach programmes and other business-related information
relevant to women entrepreneurs in Malaysia. Besides hard copy, similar information
can be made available on websites. Consultants and/or advisors on credit policy issues
should be knowledgeable enough to answer all the doubts that women entrepreneurs
have in mind. They must be professionally trained and understand clearly the process of
accessing credit to give proper guidelines and advice to women who would like to start
a business venture. This is required to build the trust and confidence of women
entrepreneurs toward the services provided by government and the non-governmental
organisations.
The women entrepreneurs should be made to realise that networking is essential for
people to establish relationships with their customers and/or suppliers, as well as open
up new opportunities in an effective way. As suggested by Vossenberg (2013), a good
strategy for women entrepreneurs to pursue is to engage husbands, brothers or other
male family members in paving the way into male networks, thereby improving access
 to other entrepreneurs. Besides, they should fully utilise technology, especially in this Development of
ICT age for crowdsourcing purposes. There must be realisation that technology could
ease them in promoting their products and services online. Networks can also provide
women
substantial help to penetrate wider markets so that the women entrepreneurs can entrepreneurship
expand their business outreach. Ueno (2013) reported that there are only 15 per cent of
SMEs with websites in Malaysia. It is therefore important to change the mindset that
websites are not only meant for large companies. Government agencies and business 445
associations can help women entrepreneurs to create websites with mobile application
system to drive their sales and to maintain its status and position in its own industry.
In this case, the government can create access to technology for young women
enterprises so that they can tap on the right networks and start leveraging on them to get
more businesses for themselves. For the existing entrepreneurs, the government could
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assist women entrepreneurs to diversify to countries with high growth like China, India
and Middle-East by reconsidering their branding and marketing initiatives and to boost
export and foreign economic relations through technology adoption. In addition, a
system must be put in place to register the Malaysian women entrepreneurs with the
SME Corporation as it was reported that 31 per cent of the SMEs are not doing so,
resulting in the women entrepreneurs losing many opportunities and assistance
programmes provided by the agency (Bernama, 2013). For the start, the government can
consider the step taken by the government of the Philippines to launch a “Simplified
Business Registration System” which can encourage and attract more women
entrepreneurs to use the online system to register their businesses. The government can
also organise more entrepreneurial events such as bazaars, seminars, exhibitions,
forums and the like for new women entrants into business, as well as by inviting
advisory panels, i.e. advisors, angel investors, incubators and venture capitalists to
network with each other and to facilitate the women entrepreneurs by providing
consultancy on procedures of registration and issues related to business and financial
planning. This is, in fact, a concept applied in Europe under one of the training packages
named “European Ready for Equity!” to support the creation and growth of women
ventures (Piacentini, 2013).
According to Chuah (2013, cottage industries are often spared from being hit by
economic downturns. As such, knowing the opportunities of involving in such
industries will bring good economical returns and competitive advantage to the
Malaysian women entrepreneurs. To overcome the difficulties in marketing and
distributing products, women entrepreneurs can work with the various ministries and
agencies which provide such services. One such example is the Ministry of Tourism
which helps women entrepreneurs to promote their handmade products (e.g. songket,
Sarawak layered cake, mat weaving, batik and so on) to different countries, as well as
provide consultation by way of innovation, good branding and intellectual property
laws. In addition, it is equally important for the government to facilitate the issuance of
license and permit through the local authorities so that the women entrepreneurs do not
have to worry about the legal implications of running their businesses. The government
should create awareness through various media such as television, radio, Internet and
other social media, e.g. Facebook and Twitter to highlight the importance of business
licensing and protection of intellectual property rights.
Besides, research and development (R&D) is of great importance in the modern
business world as the level of competition escalates. In this case, the Malaysian
 GM Government can play a vital role to support and assist the women entrepreneurs by
providing funding to R&D and advice on innovation. This is to provide quality
29,7 assurance to the products produced so that they can be competitive enough in the global
marketplace.
As to the laws to support working women entrepreneurs, the government can play a
greater role by providing daycare centres and homecare which has been widely
446 practiced in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Korea and Sweden. In Austria, some
regional business incubators even provide childcare facilities for women entrepreneurs
(Jong, 2013). Taking the cue, the Malaysian Government can initiate such childcare
benefit to ease the burden of women entrepreneurs for better work–family balance. The
taxation law is another area which could make a big difference in encouraging and
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sustaining women entrepreneurship (Casserly, 2012).

Over the past decades, women have to juggle between work and family. To reduce
stress and to balance between work and leisure, women should have high self-efficacy as
an entrepreneur. This is due to the fact that self-efficacy is the main factor contributing
to successful women entrepreneurs (Javadian and Singh, 2012). Besides, they need to
express emotions at the right time rather than exaggerate their feelings. Men and
women have their own glass ceilings; they themselves should decide whether family or
career is their priority in life. Women entrepreneurs can communicate with their family
members, especially their spouses, about their household responsibilities and slowly
adapt to the long working hours as prevalent in Malaysia. Furthermore, their
spouses should show the support by caring for their children. This will give their
children the best influence, particularly the daughters who may eventually take up
entrepreneurship. In fact, this practice is currently implemented by the Japanese
Government to empower women in the country.

Conclusion and future research direction

This paper has identified eight major issues faced by women entrepreneurs in Malaysia
based on the review of literature. It has contributed to knowledge for it has addressed the
scarcity of research in the context of development of women entrepreneurship in
Malaysia and possibly beyond. To some extent, comparisons are carried out with other
countries, both developed and developing, to justify the issues highlighted. The
similarities identified infer that some of the issues and recommendations may be
applicable across borders, subject to further empirical investigation.
The eight highlighted issues imply that financial, skills and business development
are just some of the many challenges faced by women entrepreneurs. In actual fact, the
issues faced by women entrepreneurs vary and are far more complicated than what they
have been perceived to be. Although some efforts have been made by the government
and/or the private sectors to address these issues through the provision of financial
schemes, skills development and business development support, the decreasing trend in
the rates of TEA, as well as participation of women in entrepreneurship, signify that the
eight issues deserve significant attention. Hence, a thorough understanding of the issues
is especially paramount so that appropriate strategies and policy measures can be
formulated through the concerted efforts of the many stakeholders – policymakers,
(HEIs), entrepreneurs themselves, their peers and even family members – to achieve the
aim of increasing the number of Malaysian women in business to 35 per cent by 2020.
 It is timely that the society changes its mindset not only to reduce the gender gaps but Development of
also to acknowledge the role of women entrepreneurs. As Sandberg (2013, p. 161) wrote
in Lean In: Women, Work, and The Will to Lead, “[…] Equal opportunity is not equal
women
unless everyone receives the encouragement that makes seizing those opportunities entrepreneurship
possible […]”. Support and encouragement from the community, as well as from all the
other stakeholders, are required because women entrepreneurs encountered many more
barriers than men to become successful. The awareness should be enhanced to empower 447
women entrepreneurs in the world economy and to be recognised in the coming future
(Brush, 2012). This is true where:
[…] if more women lean in, we can change the power structure of our world and expand
opportunities for all. More female leadership will lead to fairer treatment for all women […]
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(Sandberg, 2013, p. 172).

As insisted by Vossenberg (2013), countries with high levels of support for
entrepreneurship in general plus positive societal attitudes towards women in general,
display higher levels of participation of women in entrepreneurship.
Future research should focus on issues related to gender gaps with the support of
feminist theory to clearly understand the motivation and barriers of women
entrepreneurs in developing countries. Qualitative approach should be used to further
determine the strategy and policy to assist in business expansion of women
entrepreneurs, as well as encouraging more participation of women in entrepreneurship.
In terms of family issues, future studies can consider the perception and attitude of
spouses in taking equal childcare and household responsibilities. In so doing, it is
imperative to clearly define women entrepreneurship and, subsequently, the scope of
women entrepreneurs (for instance own and operate, rather than merely funding the
ventures) so that accurate findings can be derived at.

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About the authors

Wendy Ming Yen Teoh is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Malaysia.
Her research interests include entrepreneurship, women studies and human resource
management. Miss Teoh has published her research works in several international refereed
journals and conference proceedings.
Siong Choy Chong is the Director of Accreditation at the Finance Accreditation Agency,
Malaysia. Prior to that, he was a Professor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and
Research at Linton University College, Malaysia. He received his PhD from Multimedia
University, Malaysia. Dr Chong has published over 100 articles in international refereed journals,
conference proceedings and in book chapters. His vast research interests include knowledge
management, human resource management, information technology management, management
in higher education and entrepreneurship. Siong Choy Chong is the corresponding author and can
be contacted at: [email protected]

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International Journal of Business and Management Invention (IJBMI)
ISSN (Online): 2319 – 8028, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 801X
www.ijbmi.org || Volume 7 Issue 4 Ver. II || April. 2018 || PP—81-85

An Analysis of Market Segmentation (Naelofar Hijab’s Brand)

NurfatinAfiqahBintiIsmail1, Shantiny Kanesan2, Komathy Krishnan3
1
Master Student of Business Administration, Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah Malaysia
2
Master Student of Business Administration, Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah Malaysia
3
Accounting Lecturer, Sunway College Ipoh Malaysia
Corresponding Author: NurfatinAfiqahBinti Ismail

ABSTRACT:With the development of world economy, there are so many enterprises occur around the globe. At
the same time, the business competition among them is becoming more fiercely and consumers also have
different and diverse in needs and wants. Thus, market segmentation is a crucial marketing strategy. Market
segmentation is the process of dividing market of potential customers into groups or segments, based on
different characteristic. Its aim is to identify and portray market segments or sets of buyers which would then
becoming the company’s target. A perfect segmentation allows the firm to dictate selling opportunities and to
adapt its marketing activities in order to achieve customer need. Indeed, market segmentation is used to
increase the sales volume in each area and it helps to make the best decisions for selling the product. Broadly
speaking, the market can be divided into four major segmentation variables such as geographic, demographic,
psychographic, and behavioral. These four segments will be discussed in detail in this paper. In this paper, I
have chosen Naelofar Hijab’s brand to explain in detail about market segmentation and targeting in the
consumer market and how this brand gains more popularity among the ‘Hijabista’.
KEYWORDS –Market, Market Segmentation, Diverse Need, Target, Bases for Market Segmentation, and
Naelofar Hijab’s Brand.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------
Date of Submission: 04-04-2018 Date of acceptance: 19-04-2018
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

I. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Naelofar Hijab
Starting with the business of beauty supplements which is Bella Vita, that appoint her younger sister,
NurAmeera Khan as face of product and then followed by Lofalens product, a brand that offering fashionable
contact lens as well as Naelofar Abaya, featuring modern and stylish abayas are the beginning involvement the
founder, Neelofa in the business world. She would eventually become an entrepreneur herself even though
basically, it was a family business because she really loved fashion and had a passion for business that help to
start making her own label. Venturing into business with a small team of trusted and like-minded individuals,
Neelofa and her team decided to revolutionize and facilitate modest fashion to make shawls more practical and
easier to wear. Never satisfied with what she had done, after countless brainstorming sessions, trials and errors,
Neelofacontinues to expand her business by launching Naelofar Hijab which is an instant shawl in December
2014.
She never expected her own brand can be accepted widely all around the world and becoming an
international brand. The company started selling its product via online and at bazaars. After its flagship store in
Taman TunDr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur opened in January 2015 the product started to be sold at this store. The
shawl collection is now exported to more than 30 countries including Brunei, Australia, United Kingdom,
Netherlands, and United States that make Naelofar Hijab as a global brand. The product aimed for modest
fashion, the market aimed to be worth USD 327 billion by 2020 and the company planning to market the
product in the untapped market.

1.2 Background Founder of Naelofar Hijab

NoorNeelofaMohd Noor born on 10 February 1989 at Pasir Mas, Kelantan and the third child of nine
siblings. She is the Goddess of Youth Champion (DewiRemaja) in 2010. She got all A‟s in UPSR, PMR, and
SPM. She holds a Bachelor‟s Degree, International Trade and Marketing in Sunway University College
Selangor. She is Malaysian celebrity, actress, host, model, and television presenter with 1.4 million likers on
facebook, 5.4 million followers on instagram, and the number increasing constantly day by day. Every time she
appears on screen, her adoring fans immediately rush to buy whatever she might have chosen to wear including
her headscarves. She‟s also an entrepreneur and the face of fashion company Nealofar Hijab. Neelofa

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considered as one of the celebrities most successful even though she had many scandal and controversy, but it
did not weaken her passion and determination for being outstanding in the field that she involved. That, along
with Neelofa‟s success in her business venture lands her as Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2017.

II. PRODUCT SEGMENTATION

Segmentation is a technique to identify and satisfy the needs of specific groups of customers with
similar requirements within a market. It‟s an alternative to offering a “one size fits all” product to all markets.
The different versions of a product will be offered to different groups of customers in product segmentation
strategy operation (Philip Kotler, 2014). To operate a product segmentation strategy, the research should be
carried out in order to identify groups of customers who want benefits or level of functionality that are not
available currently in a product category. Indeed, the different versions of product can match the needs of
customers precisely.
Naelofar Hijab offered wide range of product to their customers. The product segmentation
helpNaelofar Hijab to understand and influence consumer buying decisions and constitute a successful
marketing campaign. In 4 years around, there are more than 30 collections in their portfolio, Naelofar Hijab
offer great variety of hijab styles in order to satisfy the diversity in needs and tastes of customers. During acting
and hosting job also help Neelofa to promote her shawl collections to audience. For example, when she was
acting in drama “SuriHati Mr. Pilot” along with Fattah Amin, she wore her latest shawl collection in almost
every scenes she acted. In addition, she also named her new shawl collection, Warda such as Lady Warda and
Queen Warda based on her name character in that drama. This latest collection has captured the hearts of many
her fans and it has boosted the demand of the collection which almost all sold out because of the good impact
from the drama and the good marketing strategy.

III. MARKET SEGMENTATION

3.1 Introduction
Market segmentation is an essential part of any business. Referring to M. Croft‟s book “Market
Segmentation” (1994), market segmentation targeting each segment with a specific product or service lays in the
heart of marketing theory. Since marketing is emphasized about the important of satisfying customer‟s needs
and wants as well as identifying them, market segmentation is a tool for that. It is about understanding
customers and also matching the company‟s resources to the right user groups (segments). It is a process that
identifies the group of customers within a market who can be targeted with separate products and services.
In order to satisfy customer‟s taste, Naelofar Hijab has released many types of scarves collection to be
matched the expectation of customers in the targeted segment. For instance, on February Naelofar Hijab has
launched Be Lofa where encompasses two tasteful designs, Be Lofa Turban and Be Lofa Shawl. It shows that
Neelofa trying to release a collection that make the users look attractive, elegant, and modern even with hijab
because she knows that young generation today are very up to date on the world fashion.
By segmenting their market, Naelofar Hijab will be focus more on their strategies in the particular
market where the company can be more efficiently and effectively with the product that match customers unique
needs in which company should always concerned about What type or trend of scarf that customers want?, Who
is the main targeted customers?, and Where should the product to be marketed? Is it mass market or specific
market? All these questions will help the company to come up with good marketing strategy.
3.2 Bases for Segmenting Markets
Under market segmentation, there are four major variables that can be used to segment the market. The
followings are the bases for segmenting consumer markets.
3.2.1 Geographic segmentation
3.2.2 Demographic segmentation
3.2.3 Psychographic segmentation
3.2.4 Behavioral segmentation

3.2.1 Geographic Segmentation

Geographic segmentation was perhaps the first type of segmentation to exist, historically speaking
(Lunn, 1978). This is because many companies operate along geographic lines. The geographic location of
customers does help the company in planning its marketing offer. This type of segmentation is quite common in
dividing the rural and urban consumer market. It also divides the market into geographical units such as nations,
states, regions, counties, cities or neighborhoods. The company can operate in one or a few areas, or it can
operate in all but pay more attention to local variations.
As mentioned earlier, the flagship store of Naelofar Hijab located in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI). There are
complete facilities provided in that area which are needed by their boutique such as public transport that
everyone is assessable and easily to get to boutique. The boutique location also near the main road will facilitate

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customer who for the first time reached there and does not familiar with that area. Other facilities like good
water supply system, electricity, and telecommunications. Besides that, Neelofa plans to take her hijabfashion
business abroad by making her first foray into New York (Shafi, 2017). She feels that New York is a strategic
location for a physical store and a warehouse for her fashion house, Naelofar Hijab.

3.2.2 Demographic Segmentation

In demographic segmentation the market is divided into groups on the fundamental of variables such as
age, family size, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, race, generation, nationality, and
social class. Kotier (1984, p. 255) states that “demographic variables are the most popular bases for
distinguishing customer groups” because they are often associated with customer‟s needs and wants. Another is
that they are easy to measure. Naelofar Hijab targets their customers, lady and woman with ages around the
range of 18-60 years. It shows that not only young generation can wear their shawl collection but “Gen X and
Baby Boomers” generation also suitable with the product design because they are seeking to look pretty and
young at their ages. Besides that, Naelofar Hijab focus more on career woman who have their income because
the company knows that all the career woman are willing to spend their money for great look and appearance.

3.2.3 Psychographic Segmentation

Psychographic emphasizes the importance of general environment, cultural, and social factor (Mostyn,
1977). In this segment, customers are divided into different groups according to lifestyle or personality or
values. Even though the two may be of the same age, from the same occupation, with similar education and
income, each of customers may have different attitude towards risk of buying particular product. Different
people have different personality of their customers. For example, Naelofar Hijab has produced three types of
hijab collections such as bawal, shawl, and turban because each of customers has different personality where not
every women like wearing bawal but some of them maybe like wearing shawl or turban. To dominate abroad
market, Naelofar Hijab has launched new hijab collection, Turban because the founder knows that to capture
attention and the hearts of international audiences, she should design an elegant, modern, and comfortable hijab
concept that can be adapted by their lifestyle.

3.2.4 Behavioral Segmentation

In this method of segmentation, the marketers divide buyers into groups on the basis of their
knowledge of, attitude toward, use of, or response to a product, occasions, brand loyalty, user rate, user status,
and buyer-readiness stage are the behavioral variables. According to Philip Kotler (2007) “many marketers
believe that behavioral variables are the best starting point for constructing market segments”.
The first one is occasions. We can distinguish buyers according to the occasions when they develop a
need, purchase, or use a product. Occasional segmentation can assist the company to enlarge the usage scope of
their product. Naelofar Hijab has took the advantage of some festivals, such as Hari Raya Aidilfitri by launching
an instant hijab collection which is “Soulmate” where it can be matched with BajuKurung. Wear them together,
with intricate detailing and graceful characteristic, this collection has the ability to provide a quick makeover,
uplifting even the plainest and dullest of Raya costume with its impressive design.
Another segmentation included in behavioral segmentation is user status. Every product has its
nonusers, ex-users, potential users, first-time users, and regular users (Philip Kotler& Gary Armstrong, 2005).
The key to be successful is carrying out different marketing strategies in order to keep the regular customers and
attract new or potential customers. Naelofar Hijab already possessed about 30 hijab collections. Neelofa and her
team keep trying to release hijab collection with different design and in term of the quality of the fabric
materials (such as wool chiffon and Korean chiffon), the color selection (Naelofar Hijab only use pastel colors)
and the usage of Crystalline or Swarovski pearls on the fabric that differentiate Naelofar Hijab with other hijab
brands. They will ensure that all the design can be used from young age till old age group.
The last one is loyalty status. Buyers can be divided into four groups based on brand loyalty status :
“hard-core loyal (consumers who buy only one brand all the time), split loyal (consumers who are loyal to two
or three brands), shifting loyal (consumers who shift loyalty from one brand to another), and switchers
(consumers who show no loyalty to any brand)” (P. Rossi, E. Mc.Culloch and G. Allenby, 1996). Furthermore,
one of initiative way that executed by Naelofar Hijab to make sure that their customers are loyal to their brand is
through marketing campaign. Almost every year the company will produce a short video to promote all the hijab
collection on that year as well as at particular time or festival, the company will hold a big promotion sale with
at affordable price that will attract customers to buy their product in large quantity. It will make sure their hijab
brand becoming the first choice among „Hijabista‟.

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IV. COMPETITORS
Naelofar Hijab market ready-made designs with new revolution.Naelofar Hijab often facing an issue
with plagiarized. However, Naelofar Hijab always come up with new collection so that they are not overtaken
by them and Naelofar Hijab keep faster than plagiaristic. Neelofa and her team decide to revolutionize and
simplify modest fashion, to make shawls more practical and easier to wear. Even with many kinds of new
brands emerging on the market, Naelofar Hijab brand continuously being embraced by the customer whether it
is sold in boutique or by online. Naelofar Hijab itself is among market leader and it has trigger the phenomenon
with their own group of loyal followers. For example, the latest number of followers in their official instagram
is about 595K that spearheading other hijab brands such as Duck Scarves, Sugar Scarf, and Adijuma Scarf. The
influence of advertising, models or celebrities who sport a hood that is one of factor that brand into a frenzy
women in hijab. Social networking sites is also factor that users usually obsessed with popular brands.

4.1 Naelofar’s Competitive Advantage against Competitors

Location
Besides online sale, there are many boutiques and vendors that sell Naelofar Hijab in order to be close
to their fans and customers. Meanwhile, the flagship store located in Kuala Lumpur , capital of Malaysia.

Product
Most design of Naelofar Hijab is instant shawl. Simple but nice is a key element of the brand. Naelofar
Hijab alway come up with the latest collection to add variation to an existing collection. Their new collection is
always a premium collection of more elegant. Naelofar Hijab keeps improving their existing product in order to
meet and satisfy consumer‟s need and taste. Every month Naelofar Hijab will launch new design and marketing
strategy. Each new design will surely hit the crowd because of the quality and uniqueness always bring the
satisfaction to their customers. Different design and use of high quality fabric become a factor that reinforces
the brand in the hearts of customers. Naelofar Hijab always produce new collection follow by the trend and
market need to ensure sales momentum is constantly increasing.

Promotion
Naelofar Hijab constantly produce new design and always have a good promotion for the old designs.
Naelofar Hijab use an approach to appreciate their customers by make a huge promotion during year end sale
which is they can buy the scarf at combo deals. If the customer decides to buy more than one piece of scarf, they
will get more discounts. The founder, Neelofa also well known as TV host and famous actress. So, she uses this
opportunity to promote her scarf in the best way which is she wears all Naelofar Hijab collections during show
time. Besides that, Naelofar Hijab also make huge promotion during Hari Raya Aidilfitri and AidilAdhabecause
at that season, a lot of customers will buy the scarves to be matched with Raya costumes. Other promotion is
Naelofar Hijab also make a contest to all the customers who have instagram account, to make a short video
tower 5 pieces of different collections for one minutes duration. The winner of this contest will get a new
collection of scarf. Naelofar Hijab is very good in create something new and grab all the opportunity. That‟s
why Naelofar Hijab have many regular customers who always stick and loyal with that brand.

Prospect
Naelofar Hijab product suitable will all ages, from teenagers to women and mature women.

Brand
Naelofar Hijab collectionalways capture the hearts of her fans because each design has their own class and
speciality.

Quality
All Naelofar Hijab products use the best quality materials and soft fabric to ensure the satisfaction of customers.

Price
The price is affordable with the best quality used. Mostly the products are priced RM 50 and above.

Publicity
The founder, Neelofa always wearing Naelofar Hijab scarves whenever its latest issue to appear on television or
formal occasions.

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Packaging
The scarves come with attractive packaging design and also can be a gift for a loved one. The packaging looks
like a high class and branded item.

V. CONCLUSION
Market segmentation is clearly a crucial marketing strategy. It enables the marketing manager to divide
total demand into relatively homogenous segments identified by geographic, demographic, psychographic, or
behavioral variables. These characteristic are relevant in explaining and in predicting the response of customers,
in a given segment, to marketing stimuli. This can be seen through the achievement of Naelofar Hijab where
their success in expanding their business locally and internationally has been widely acknowledged by various
institutions and government agencies. In just a few short years since it was established, Naelofar Hijab has also
garnered numerous awards including the SME and Entrepreneurship Award at a prestigious event held in JW
Marriot, Kuala Lumpur.

REFERENCES
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(pp. 343-376). UK.
[4]. Shafi, N. M. (2017, February 5). Legasi Bisnes Ciptaan Neelofa. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from Sinar Online:
http://www.sinarharian.com.my/rencana/legasi-bisnes-ciptaan-neelofa-1.623007
[5]. Kotier. (1984). In Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control (5th edition) (pp. 250-276). Englewood Cliffs, New
jersey: Prentice-Hall.
[6]. Mostyn. (1977). Motivational Research. Passing Fad or Permanent Feature? Bradford: MCB.
[7]. Kotler, P. (2007). Marketing Management. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press.
[8]. Armstrong, P. K. (2005). Principles of Marketing (Tenth Edition). Pearson Education,Inc.
[9]. P.Rossi, E. a. (1996). The Value of Purchase History Data in Target Marketing. In Marketing Science,Vol.15 (pp. 321-340).
[10]. Naelofar Hijab to make foray into New York. (2016, February 20). Retrieved from The Rakyat Post:
http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2016/02/20/naelofar-hijab-make-foray-new-york/
[11]. The headgearemire. (2017, December 13). Retrieved from New Straits Times:
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NurfatinAfiqahBinti Ismail.“An Analysis of Market Segmentation (Naelofar Hijab‟s Brand)”

International Journal of Business and Management Invention (IJBMI) , vol. 07, no. 04, 2018,
pp. 81–85.

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