Development of Entrepreneurial Competencies and Business Performance in SMEs: Between Government Support and Empowerment of Malaysian Women Entrepreneurs

The important aspect of business performance among women-owned SMEs in Malaysia is scarce and still underperformed. Hence, Malaysian SMEs needs to empower the entrepreneurial competencies among women-owned entrepreneurs and the support of Malaysian government. In this study, the questionnaire survey has been selected as the data collection method for this research. A total of 116 responses from the women-owned entrepreneur in Malaysia were obtained and analysis was carried out using Smart PLS software to generate findings. The results reveal that strategic competencies, opportunity competencies and conceptual competencies have significantly impacted the business performance of women-owned entrepreneurs among SMEs in Malaysia. The moderating effect of government support on the relationship between strategic competencies, opportunity competencies and business performance proved to be significant. Surprisingly, the interaction of government support between conceptual competencies and business performance is not supported in the findings. Hence, the current paper will further provide a women-owned SME with substantial information to focus on fostering entrepreneurial competencies within their respective companies to ensure peak business performance. Findings from this study anticipated being extremely useful to the Malaysian government, in specific Policy Makers. With these results, authorities will be better informed when implementing new strategies and programmes to enhance the skills of entrepreneurs, which will result in better business performance.