Measuring the Government Business Support Services and Performance of SMEs

Abstract

In essence, the government business support services (GBBS) were first initiated with a primary aim to help many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) overcome various obstacles and constraints that are unique to them. Therefore, this study was set out to empirically investigate the influence of the business support services provided by the Malaysian government on the overall performance of Malaysian SMEs. The resource-based view (RBV) theory was used as a basis for the development of the theoretical framework of this study. Plus, this study employed a deductive approach which saw primary data that were collected being administered on a cross-sectional study design through structured interviews using questionnaires on a sample population of 335 randomly selected SMEs representing all business sectors from each state in Malaysia. Subsequently, data analysis was carried out using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to empirically test this study’s proposed hypotheses. Results from the data analysis revealed that only three of the four hypotheses proposed by the study were eventually supported. These findings significantly indicate that not all business support services sourced by the government had a significant impact on the performance of SMEs. On top of that, the study’s findings also suggest that technical support services do not contribute significantly to the achievement and progress of SMEs. This means more proactive measures need to be taken in order to increase awareness and promote the use of technology among SMEs in Malaysia.