MPOB-UKM ENDOWMENT CHAIR

 

Entrepreneurial Orientation, Locus of Control, Worldview and Value Creation Among Palm Oil Smallholders

Grant Category, Year:  Cluster Research Grant, 2017 

Abstract

One of the MPOB current concern is to increase the productivity of smallholders as well as to improve smallholders’ income through better management of the palm oil plantations. Despite the small production scale, the smallholders are expected to participate competitively in the industry. Thus, it is about the time to inculcate entrepreneurial enthusiasm among the smallholders in order to ensure resilient involvement of the agricultural ventures. Suraiya and Ahmad Raflis (2015) has presented the concept of social entrepreneurship and the application of the conventional entrepreneurial characteristics to the solving of social problems. The social elements in entrepreneurship can also means the adoption of aggressive business-like behaviors into the activities of social actors aimed to resolve the targeted problems.
Within the framework of improving the productivity and income of the palm oil smallholders through their existing resources, we posited that entrepreneurship orientation is indeed relevant to be examined. The smallholders with high level of entrepreneurship orientation are expected to demonstrate a relatively proactive behavior, accepting calculated risk, innovative and responsive to new opportunities throughout the management of their palm oil value creation processes. As a result, we expect that smallholders that possess high entrepreneurial orientation would manage their farms with more effective and efficient modes such as willing to purchase quality seeds with higher prices, purchase quality fertilizer on their own effort, build a good collaborative network with fruit dealers and pursuing efficient business related activities within their capacity and resources. These efforts eventually lead to generate better farm’s productivity and income level as well as improving their business performance.

Project Leader

Ahmad Raflis Che Omar (Faculty of Economics and Management, raflis@ukm.edu.my)