How do the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) form strategic alliances for their entrepreneurship activities to recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities, share information, and seek potential partners? It requires effort and a good strategy.
The practice of developing mutually beneficial relationships with business people and other agencies is one of the primary tactics used by HEIs to network and leverage their external collaborators. Establishing good relationships with external parties is not only important for the purpose of obtaining funds, but it is also important for several other purposes, such as obtaining advisory services, expanding networks, and increasing influence. This is in line with the ministry's core focus of HEI entrepreneurship development which is to increase industry involvement in the learning and teaching process as well as in innovation as one of the HEI’s entrepreneurship strategic plans. However, Malaysia ranks 43rd out of 110 countries on number of patents, and engagement levels with industry and community are still not as intensive or widespread as desired. Malaysia needs to move from academia operating in insolation, to the quadruple helix of academia, industry, government, and local communities coming together in partnership for the incubation, development, and commercialization of ideas.
Currently, there are several categories of agencies that contribute to HEIs in an effort to improve their goals to achieve the government's objective of increasing collaboration between strategic partners. To explain the functions of the parties that work with HEIs this article focuses to explain the types of strategic partners of HEIs based on entrepreneurship activities for their student business ventures. Among the functions of such agencies are, (i) agencies that contribute financial support, (ii) agencies that make policies, (iii) as well as agencies that contribute expertise. It is important for HEI to know the functions of their collaborators so that they choose an agency that can help students, in general, and students' business ventures. This article demonstrated the entrepreneurship centres of HEIs have collaborated under several types of strategic alliances which is in line with their interests and the portfolios of their respective institutions.
Strategic alliances conducted by HEIs vary based on their inclinations and focus. For example, most universities conduct their strategic alliances with several parties who have advantages in terms of technology, expertise, and influence. Most HEIs have many good relationships with government agencies, non-governmental agencies, banking agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government-linked companies (GLCs) as well as their alumni. Among the agencies that they have collaborated with are the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE); the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), which is a world commercialisation solutions provider; Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) Sdn Bhd; Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Center (MaGIC); and Malaysian Entrepreneurship Development Center (MEDEC); which are the best agencies to contribute expertise and provide many other facilities. Apart from that, HEIs also tend to form strategic alliances with several other agencies under government ministries; namely, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA), and other banking agencies, such as SME Bank. Table 1 shows the various categories, functions, and types of agencies that are part of HEI's strategic alliances.
| Category | Function | Type of agency |
1 | Government agencies | Policymaker, fund provider and executor | Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Center (MaGIC), Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA), TEKUN, Lembaga Pertubuhan Peladang (LPP) National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS), and SME Corporation Malaysia. |
2 | Government-linked company | Fund provider, Mentor, and advisor | Private companies |
3 | Private company | Fund provider, mentor, and advisor | Celcom, and other private companies |
4 | Banking agency | Fund provider | SME Bank, Bank Rakyat |
The strategic alliances made are based on the functions of the agencies themselves. Apart from providing good influence and assistance for commercialization and promotion purposes, the strategic alliances are aimed at obtaining financial support. For example, MTDC not only contributes in terms of technology expertise and innovation, but it also provides financial benefits. Agencies under the Ministry of Rural Affairs, such as MARA, also provide benefits in terms of expertise, guidance, and also financial support to HEIs. Meanwhile, government agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based businesses have not missed the opportunity to contribute expertise, advisory services, goods, and merchandise to the HEIs. Government agencies (i.e., MARA and FAMA) contribute a great deal to the sustainability of the entrepreneurship programs conducted in all types of HEIs including polytechnics, and community colleges, which are among the most supported institutions that received support from the government agencies. Just like banking institutions that provide financial initiatives to the students and HEIs, these agencies are among the parties that provide a great positive impact on the development of entrepreneurship in HEIs. In conclusion, based on current performance, strategic alliances implemented by Malaysian HEIs demonstrate a harmonious symbiosis with their stakeholders.
