Entrepreneurship: A critical outlook on housing developers in Malaysia

This paper aims to explore the entrepreneurial characteristics of indigenous and nonindigenous housing developers in Malaysia. The entrepreneurial characteristic is perceived to be one of the significant factors explaining the low involvement of indigenous people in the housing industry. Indigenous refers to the native people of Malaysia while non-indigenous refers mainly to Chinese developers. Indigenous housing developers often start as hired employees who are then encouraged by their companies to open their own businesses. Most members of the non-indigenous group start their businesses on their own initiative and interest, with strong family support. Lack of government support for the industry forces indigenous developers to take various related courses to advance their knowledge. In terms of entrepreneurial psychological characteristics, significant differences between both groups exist in proactiveness and innovativeness. However, indigenous developers have the same qualities as the nonindigenous in terms of acquisitiveness, internal locus of control, independence, and tolerance for ambiguity, but not in risk-taking propensity.