Can Culture Stimulate Innovation for Technopreneurship? A Grounded Theory Method

Among factors influencing and shaping innovation in different societies is the prevailing culture. Most forms of individualistic cultures affect innovation significantly and positively. key factors that influence innovation among early-stage startups are government interventions, innovation policy and financing. This study has three key objectives. The first is to examine how culture influences innovation among technology startups in Malaysia. The second objective is to explore factors associated with technology innovation. The third objective is to assess how innovation influence financing for technology startups. The study employs grounded theory as the main methodological approach to analyze primary data. A qualitative survey carried out a series of semi-structured interviews with technology entrepreneurs[1], relevant government agencies, industry associations, venture capitalists and leading accelerators. The study finds that culture can be an impediment to innovation. Factors such as collective culture and herd mentality behavior were identified as barriers to innovation and fear of failure was attributed to low entrepreneurial innovation. Entrepreneurial attitude, on the other hand, was identified as a significant quality that is positively related to innovation among technology startups. Data analysis reveals that technopreneurs who display a positive attitude, determination, perseverance and self-efficacy are more likely to display some form of innovation in their startup. These technopreneurs were more likely to be financed by venture capital funds and private or angel investors. Other factors that influence innovation are, the capacity to commercialize, overall entrepreneurship culture, incubators facilities and capabilities and market size. Based on the findings, the study offers a proposed framework that encapsulates elements, factors and components that affect innovation.