Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of creativity and innovativeness, risk taking propensity, proactiveness and autonomy on entrepreneurial competency and performance among micro-enterprises in Kelantan, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a cross-sectional design, the authors collected data from 403 micro-entrepreneurs who were registered under “Majlis Amanah Rakyat” and “Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Istiadat”. Quantitative data were collected through structured interviews from September 2017 to December 2017. Findings The findings revealed that creativity and innovativeness, proactiveness and autonomy had a positive influence on entrepreneurial competencies. In addition, autonomy and entrepreneurial competencies had a positive effect on micro-enterprise performance. Then, entrepreneurial competencies showed a mediating effect on the relationships between creativity, innovativeness, autonomy and micro-enterprise performance. Originality/value The findings contributed to resource-based view and enriched the entrepreneurship literature, particularly in the context of small businesses in emerging economies. This study recommended underlying organizations to pay attention to the improvement of creativity and innovativeness, proactiveness, autonomy and entrepreneurial competencies among low-income entrepreneurs through useful policies and training programs, which were expected to improve micro-enterprise performance and encourage poor households to perform entrepreneurial activities for better socio-economic conditions.

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of entrepreneurial skills, market orientation, sales orientations and networking on entrepreneurial competency and performance of micro-enterprises in Kelantan, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a cross-sectional design, this paper collected data through structured interviews from 403 micro-entrepreneurs from “Majlis Amanah Rakyat,” Kelantan and “Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Istiadat,” Kelantan. Findings The findings reveal that entrepreneurial skills, market orientation and networking have a positive effect on entrepreneurial competency. Then, entrepreneurial competency, entrepreneurial skills and networking have a positive effect on enterprise performance. The findings show a significant mediation effect of entrepreneurial competency on the relationships between entrepreneurial skills, market orientation and networking and enterprise performance. Originality/value Addressing the understudied “human factor” in entrepreneurship, this paper extends the resource-based view and enriches the existing entrepreneurship literature in Malaysia. It provides useful insights into the improvement of micro-enterprise performance, which is crucial for promoting entrepreneurial activities and for enhancing socio-economic conditions among low-income households in Malaysia. Thus, the government and developmental organizations should focus on the development of entrepreneurial skills, market-oriented approach, networking traits and entrepreneurial competencies and subsequently encourage poor households to perform entrepreneurial activities.

This study probed into the impact of entrepreneurial leadership dimensions (i.e., responsibility, accountability, analytical thinking, and emotional intelligence) on the performance and sustainability of micro-enterprises in Kelantan, Malaysia, through the lens of resource-based view (RBV) theory. Through the implementation of a cross-sectional design, data were randomly gathered from 403 micro-entrepreneurs whose names appeared in the list of low-income households registered under "Majlis Amanah Rakyat" Kelantan and "Majlis Agama Islam Dan Adat Istiadat" Kelantan. The quantitative data were collected during structured interview sessions held between September and December 2017. The findings of the study revealed that the aspects of responsibility, accountability, and emotional intelligence exhibited significantly positive effects on micro-enterprise performance; while accountability, analytical thinking, and micro-enterprise performance displayed a significantly positive influence on sustainability among micro-enterprises owned by low-income households in Kelantan, Malaysia. The outcomes further portrayed a significant mediating effect of micro-enterprise performance on the correlations of responsibility, analytical thinking, and emotional intelligence with micro-enterprise sustainability. The outcomes of this study extend the scope of RBV theory and simultaneously enhance our understanding pertaining to leadership, performance, and sustainability interplay, particularly within the context of micro-enterprises in emerging economies. As such, it is recommended that the government of Malaysia formulate and to adopt policies that promote varied entrepreneurial-leadership-related traits among budding micro-entrepreneurs, which may not only boost sustainability performance among firms, but also encourage low-income household heads to actively engage in more entrepreneurial activities.

The aim of this review is to describe the updated concept of RA pathophysiology and highlight current diagnostic tools used for the early detection as well as prognosis - targeting several biomarkers of RA. Additionally, we explored the updated treatment options with side effects besides discussing the global economic burden.

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of entrepreneurial and market orientations on consumer engagement and the performance of manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under the premise of the resource-based view (RBV) theory. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a cross-sectional design, and quantitative data were collected from 360 manufacturing SMEs in Peninsular Malaysia. SMEs were selected using a stratified multi-stage sampling method from a total of 37,861 manufacturing SMEs. The respondents were selected from Selangor, Johor, Penang, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu, as these states make up the majority (79 per cent) of the manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia. Findings Entrepreneurial and market orientations have statistically significant positive effects on consumer engagement. Consumer engagement in turn positively affects the performance of manufacturing SMEs in Peninsular Malaysia. Findings also revealed a partial mediation of consumer engagement between entrepreneurial and market orientations on performance. Research limitations/implications A larger sample size may improve the generalizability of the findings. Managers may be able to apply the findings of this paper in developing strategies for their manufacturing SMEs, specifically, by focusing on entrepreneurial and market orientation to raise consumer engagement and to improve the overall performances of their SMEs. Originality/value This study focuses on manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia, an emerging country with conditions unique to other industrialized countries. This study aims to demonstrate that integrated entrepreneurial and market orientations have significant effects on SMEs’ performance. This relationship could be mediated by consumer engagement. Specifically, consumer orientation may influence the effect of entrepreneurial and market orientations on overall firm performance..