Entrepreneurial Intention among Polytechnic Students

Entrepreneurship is identified as an important field for a country because it can generate economic growth, create new jobs that can contribute to the national economy. Developed countries place the field of entrepreneurship as an important prerequisite for change and development of the country's economy. In the quest to become a developed country, several parties need to play an important role in encouraging youth who have graduated from colleges, universities, and polytechnics to venture into the field of entrepreneurship through constructive programs to nurture entrepreneurial talent from an early age. The goal of this propose study is to look for the factors that encourage polytechnic students to have the intention of venturing into the field of entrepreneurship. This study will investigate and evaluates the influence of entrepreneurial intention among Kuala Terengganu polytechnic students. A measurement consisting of several influencing factors or independent variables namely attitudes, social norms, the need for achievement and role models against the dependent variable entrepreneurial intention. By identifying all the independent variables, the findings have strong positive relationship between entrepreneurial intention among polytechnic students in Kuala Terengganu. As a result, entrepreneurial intention will continue to be an important component in the education sector and business development for the country in order to foster students' interest in entrepreneurs and thus produce more entrepreneurs among students.


Introduction
Every individual has a dream to have a good career because a person's life and future are closely linked to his or her chosen career field. Career selection is an ongoing process that needs to be given early exposure to the new generation starting from children to adults so that they can cultivate an interest in the chosen career (Faizal et al., 2020). Developed countries place the field of entrepreneurship as an important prerequisite for change and economic development of the country (Guzairy, 2018). The term of entrepreneurship can be defined as the act of beginning a new business. These days, business owner is portrayed as the heroic figures who are essential to the functioning of a successful capitalist economy. Malaysia is now heading towards the development of a developed country and needs human capital as the main catalyst to lead and govern the country. According to the Chairman of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation, Tun Musa Hitam, the emphasis on entrepreneurship in Malaysia can be an important ingredient to close the household income gap and help boost the country's economy. This effort is done through various methods such as education, knowledge sharing, skills, entrepreneurship programs thus creating more employment opportunities (Basaruddin, 2018). This emphasis should be focused on students so that they can cultivate interest in the field of entrepreneurship from a young age. The Malaysian government needs to be aggressive in strengthening the country's economy to achieve a position on par with developed countries.
In 2019, Tun Dr Mahathir has raised the National Entrepreneurship Policy (DKN) 2030 to a very high level in attracting and encouraging more Malaysians from all walks of life, especially youths to venture and become entrepreneurs (Sulastry, 2019). These efforts have been reinforced in the Higher Education Institutions Entrepreneurship Action Plan (2016-2020). Most IPT have offered entrepreneurship courses to provide early exposure and basic knowledge to students.
In Malaysia, there are many studies conducted to examine the factors that motivate university students to have intentions in venturing into entrepreneurship. However, there are still limited studies on this issue although it has been seen as important for the development and economic growth of the country (Fayolle & Linan, 2014;Karimi et al., 2017). Accordingly, this study was conducted to examine what motivates polytechnic students to have intentions in venturing into entrepreneurship. This study can help government institutions, agencies, academics, advisors, consultants and entrepreneurship educators to find suitable solutions to create intentions in venturing into the field of entrepreneurship at the university and subsequently in the community.
The objective of the study is to examine the factors that influence entrepreneurial intention among polytechnic students in Kuala Terengganu. The findings of this study can be used by other institutions to identify their student's intention in entrepreneurial. Other than that, governments or future scholars may increase their efforts to encourage young people to pursue entrepreneurship as a career path in the near future.

Literature Review
The model that Fayolle & Linan (2014) provide, which serves as a guide to understanding entrepreneurial intent and is based on the idea of planned behaviour, may be found here (Ajzen, 1991). This model for the execution of entrepreneurial ideas (Bird, 1988), as well as the model of an entrepreneurial event, can be found below (Shapero & Sokol, 1982). According to Ajzen (1991), different behaviours can be predicted with a high level of accuracy based on attitudes toward that behaviour, subjective norms, and perceived levels of behavioural control. An entrepreneurial event, according to Shapero & Sokol (1982), is shaped by social variables as well as social and cultural environments. For instance, entrepreneurial events are characterized by taking the initiative, consolidating resources, exercising management, maintaining relative autonomy, and taking risks. According to Bird (1988), the process of intention begins with the personal traits of the entrepreneur. The process then continues with the creation and maintenance of a temporal tension, the maintenance of strategic attention, and the development of a strategic posture. This is the primary goal and the end result of the formation of a new organization, which in turn has an effect on the qualities of the entrepreneur. Armitage & Conner (2001) conducted a meta-analysis that supports the application of the Theory of planned behaviour for forecasting intents and behaviours, when the prediction of self reported behaviour is concerned. This study was published in the journal Behaviour Research Methods. They arrived to the conclusion that the Theory of Planned Behaviour is capable of explaining 20% of the variance in prospective measurements of actual behaviour.

Entrepreneurial Intention
Philosophers have long been concerned with intention, aiming to reduce it to a combination of beliefs and desires. They distinguish between future-oriented and present oriented intentions (Cohen & Levesque, 1990). This work focuses on future-oriented intents; intention is used strictly in that sense. Entrepreneurial intention is the motive behind entrepreneurial activity, according to Wu & Wu (2008). Intention shows how hard someone is willing to try to change their behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). Individual and social factors for studying entrepreneurial intention (Wu & Wu, 2008). Meta-analysis reveals entrepreneurial ideals predict entrepreneurial behaviour (Nabi et al., 2006).
Fayolle & Linan (2014) propose three models to describe entrepreneurship intent: the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991), the Model for Implementing Entrepreneurial Ideas (Bird, 1988), and the Model of the Entrepreneurial Event (Shapero & Sokol, 1982). Ajzen (1991) said attitudes, subjective standards, and perceived behavioural control can predict distinct behaviours with considerable precision. Social variables and social and cultural settings impact entrepreneurial events, which are distinguished by initiative, resource accumulation, management, relative autonomy, and risk-taking. Bird (1988) says the process of intention begins with an entrepreneur's personal traits, then building and maintaining temporal tension, maintaining strategic attention, and developing a strategic posture. This is the aim and result of the behaviour that leads to a new organisation, which impacts the entrepreneur's personal traits. Armitage & Conner (2001) found that self-reported behaviour is a better predictor of intentions and behaviour than observed behaviour. They determined that the Theory of Planned Behavior can explain 20% of real behaviour variance.

Attitudes
According to Ajzen (1991), a person's attitude toward a certain behaviour shows the degree to which that person has a favourable or unfavourable opinion or appraisal of the behaviour in question; in the context of this study, the behaviour in question is the act of beginning a business. According to Lopez-Delgado et al (2019), a more positive attitude results in a larger chance for the individual to express the potential for future entrepreneurial behaviour (Lopez-Delgado et al., 2019). Numerous researchers who examined the attitudes in the context of entrepreneurial intention came to the conclusion that the two are positively related (Krueger Jr. et al., 2000;Shook & Bratianu, 2010;Ferreira et al., 2012;Ambad & Ag Damit, 2016;Miralles et al., 2016;Feder & NiţuAntonie, 2017;Karimi et al., 2017;Miranda et al., 2017;Zhang et al., 2015;Zollo et al., 2017). On other hand, Zhang et al. (2015) and Zollo et al (2017) did not discover a positively significant association between the observed variables in their respective studies.
Because of the numerous authors' contrasting points of view that were described earlier, we recommend the following:

Social Norms
Ajzen (1991) defines subjective social norms as societal pressure to perform or not execute a behaviour. Several writers reported a favourable association between social norms and entrepreneurial inclination (Ferreira et al., 2012;Zhang et al., 2015;Miralles et al., 2016;Feder & Niţu-Antonie, 2017;Karimi et al., 2017;Munir et al., 2019). Zhang & Cain (2017) discovered a favourable influence of social norms on entrepreneurial intention through bootstrapping, or addressing financial needs without long-term external financing and new shareholders . Krueger Jr. et al (2000); Carey et al (2010); Miranda et al (2017) found no link between social norms and entrepreneurial intent. Shook & Bratianu (2010) found a negative association between social norms and entrepreneurial intention. The authors explain their results to post-communist culture, since communism and socialism in Romania fostered a negative attitude toward entrepreneurs. Despite Croatia's communist background, we don't think the Romanian situation applies to our research. After all that, a sample of Croatian students' subjective norms and entrepreneurial intentions were studied.

Role Models
Members of the author's family, friends, and colleagues who are currently running their own businesses are taken into consideration as role models in this article. According to Bosma et al (2012), those who have never engaged in entrepreneurial activity before are more likely to have a role model than those individuals who already have some experience with beginning a business. Researchers Carr & Sequeira (2007) (2017) believe that the presence of role models is favourably connected with an individual's propensity to pursue an entrepreneurial endeavour. The presence of entrepreneurs in an area can both inspire individuals to become more entrepreneurial and also have the opposite impact. This is because the environment itself can become unfavourable, leading to difficult times for businesses or even their demise. The following hypothesis operates under the presumption that the good impact that successful entrepreneurs have on their surroundings is greater than the negative impact that unsuccessful entrepreneurs have on their surroundings.

The Need for Achievement
According to Popescu et al (2016), the desire for achievement is the satisfaction a person feels when he achieves the goal, after putting his own efforts into it. In other words, the need for achievement is the satisfaction one feels when he does something he set out to do. Rauch & Frese (2000) found that persons who have a strong need for achievement are more likely to favour challenging tasks of moderate complexity than they are to prefer regular chores or projects that are extremely tough. A strong need for achievement leads one to take personal responsibility for one's performance, to seek feedback on performance, and to search for new and better ways to advance one's performance. Expressing a strong need for achievement also leads one to take personal responsibility for one's performance (Rauch & Frese, 2000).
A study of the relevant literature turned up a number of studies, the findings of which indicate that a desire for success has a positive correlation with the intention to start a business (Yukongdi & Lopa, 2017;Ferreira et al., 2012;Popescu et al., 2016;Yukongdi & Lopa, 2017). Ismail et al (2012) investigated the phenomenon of cyber entrepreneurial intention and came to the conclusion that there is no substantial connection between the demand for achievement and entrepreneurial intention. We hypothesise that among students in Croatia, the demand for accomplishment has a positive correlation with the intention to engage in entrepreneurial activity. Figure 1 illustrates the theoretical framework of this study is the schematic drawn to indicate how to believe the variables involved in this study show related to each other. The dependent variable is entrepreneurial intention among polytechnic students in Terengganu, is located at right-hand side, while the independent variables which are attitudes, social norms, role models, and the need for achievement, is located at left-hand side of the framework. This theoretical framework is structured to identify the dependent variable and independent variables and show the related each other.

Independent variables (IV)
Dependent variable (DV) Figure 1: Theoretical framework of the study

Methodology
This study investigates the entrepreneurial intention among polytechnic students in Kuala Terengganu. The study employs a quantitative approach. Besides, this research is quantitatively analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 26.0. This research investigates the purposeful sampling of around 100 individuals from polytechnic Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu in order to carry out the survey. The sample size recommended for this investigation is based on the Sekaran table (Sekaran and Bougie, 2013). The figure is sufficient to reflect the total population (Sekaran and Bougie, 2013).
A questionnaire is a tool used to collect data for this study. It is distributed online through Google forms and emails. It is a 6-section self-administered questionnaire. Part A includes respondents' gender, age, educational profile, education level, and place of residence. While parts B until part F will explore about entrepreneurship knowledge, opinion, perspectives, information, and experiences. The second component includes the research's independent and dependent variables. Attitudes, social norms, role models, and achievement are independent variables. The questionnaire uses self-administered closed questions for all segments. The questionnaire includes a responder demographic profile and 55 Likert scale questions to examine independent variables.
For the main study, a pilot test is used to determine whether the instrument (questionnaire) is reliable and valid for this study. After the questionnaire has been coded and completed, SPSS will be used to analyze the descriptive statistics, Cronbach's Alpha, frequency, reliability analysis, and regression analysis in order to provide answers to the study's questions. Cronbach's alpha is a reliability coefficient that determines how closely the study's elements are related. The responses are measured on a 5-point Likert Scale. A result below the mean in this study's context would suggest areas for improvement. This study will uses a multiple regression approach. The objective is to determine whether attitudes, social norms, role models and achievement are related to student intention by examining the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variables.

Conclusion
In conclusion, this research is solely focused at polytechnic students in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu. The scope of future activities could be broadened and expanded to additional Terengganu localities. In this study on the influence of entrepreneurial intention, age, gender, expertise, and experience are utilised as control variables to evaluate entrepreneurial intention. Future research could look at student characteristics as moderators to see how they affect the level of entrepreneurial intention.
Hence, the research objectives of analysing the relationship between attitudes, social norms, the demand for achievement, and role models among polytechnic students in Kuala Terengganu have been met. It is possible to conclude that all of the variables have a substantial impact on the entrepreneurial intention of polytechnic students in Kuala Terengganu. Based on this discovery, governments or future scholars may increase their efforts to encourage young people to pursue entrepreneurship as a career path in the near future.
The study will make specific contributions to practice. Firstly, the presented conceptual model (figure 1) can be used by Polytechnic in Kuala Terengganu to identify potential entrepreneurs among students who are most likely to make the leap from entrepreneurial intention to action. Secondly, future researchers can conduct empirical quantitative studies to confirm the model's applicability. Therefore, the study makes a significant theoretical contribution by introducing a conceptual model that highlights the influence of attitudes, social norms, role models and the need for achievement have on the entrepreneurial intention. Thirdly, the potential entrepreneurs can use the conceptual model to understand how the contextual factors, specifically attitudes, can enhance their own ability to pursue new entrepreneurial opportunities or ventures within this sector. Fourth, the propose research can make an important contribution by integrating themes from the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and help to fill the research gap related to the factors of attitudes, social norms, role models and the need for achievement on entrepreneurial intention. Lastly, this study can increase entrepreneurial intentions among Polytechnic student in Kuala Terengganu through suggestions for improvement after analysing the findings of the study. Through this research also, it can provide awareness so that the factors that exist which are proven to have a significant relationship with entrepreneurial intentions can be improve.