Smart Partnership and Women Micro-Entrepreneurs in Tanjung Karang- A Rasch Model Analysis

Salwana Hassan
Accounting Research Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA

Rohani Mohd, Geetha Subramaniam, Badrul Hisham Kamaruddin
Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA


Abstract

Micro-enterprises in Malaysia have contributed a great deal to the economy, specifically to income generation and quality of life. However, many of them continue to face challenges when they want to expand their businesses and become sustainable. The main reason is due to insufficient capital. The purpose of this study is to examine whether a smart partnership between women microentrepreneurs and major retailers brings any impact on the quality of life. A case study was conducted in Tanjung Karang, a predominantly rural paddy field area in Selangor. A group of 17 women micro-entrepreneurs participated in a project in which they collaborated with local major retailers. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to the participants and Rasch analysis was used. Based on the analysis, five groups of micro-entrepreneurs were identified based on the strata scores. Two rulers, needed for profiling and gaps, were also generated from the analysis. Regarding the level of satisfaction on the different aspects of quality of life, the ruler that functions to profile had identified five groups. Meanwhile, the ruler for effectiveness measured the level of effectiveness of the program. Taking into consideration the size of the gap between items, both before and after project showed that the collaboration has successfully transformed the quality of life of the women micro-entrepreneurs. This result verified the significance of the collaborative effort. This effort ensures the expansion and sustainability of micro-enterprise businesses.

Keywords: Women entrepreneurs, Collaborative, Partnership, Quality of life