Using the Social Network for Business Sustainability: Examining Start-up SME Firms in Malaysia

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine social network among SME firms in Malaysia. Specifically, this paper aims to investigate the usage of social network among Malay ethnic entrepreneurs in the start-up phase of SME firms in manufacturing sectors. Secondly, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between social network and business performance of the start-up manufacturing SME firms in Malaysia. The research data were collected through self-administered and mail questionnaire with a stratified random sample of 83 SME firms around Malaysia. The hierarchical regression was used for hypothesis testing. The result shows that Malay entrepreneurs used extensively business contact in their social network. For the hypothesis testing, the hierarchical regression shows that social network has significantly positive relationship with business performance. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge especially to the social network theme in Malaysia which is considered to be in the infant stage still. The discussions of the results, the contribution to the body of knowledge as well as limitations of the study are also discussed.