‘ MERANTAU ’-AN INFORMAL ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING PATTERN IN THE CULTURE OF MINANGKABAU TRIBE IN INDONESIA

The aim of this paper is to expose an informal entrepreneurial learning pattern that is undertaken by the Minangkabau tribe in Indonesia and relate it to cultural dimension and perceived value of a society. This informal entrepreneurial learning pattern is called as ‘Merantau’ which can simply be meant as ‘to emigrate’, in which the young males (mostly during the ages of 15-20, or even younger) leave their homeland; move to other places nationwide or abroad, and running entrepreneurial activities for their daily life. The existence of merantau as an informal cultural based entrepreneurial learning for the young Minangkabau tribe combined with their cultural dimension and perceived values have contributed to the creation of and bring positive impacts to entrepreneurial culture of the Minangkabau tribe. The Minangkabau tribe, as one of tribes in Indonesia, experiences very supportive social environment in which entrepreneurial culture is recognised as part of the way of life. Therefore, Minangkabau tribe is known as one of the most entrepreneurial tribes in Indonesia. This paper considers perceived value and cultural dimension that may bring consequence to entrepreneurial culture of a society, with particular analysis to Minangkabau tribe in Indonesia. Analysis is undertaken by considering the elements and index of cultural dimension and perceived values of a society that can create and intiate entreprenuerial habits and relate them to entrepreneurship. Result of the analysis shows an evidence that culture of a society also plays an important role to create and maintain entrepreneurial habits and experience of a society. Together with cultural dimension of a society, perceived values that a society has, also contributes to the creation of entrepreneurial culture of that society. This is shown in the context of the Minangkabau tribe who is well known as an entrepreneurial tribe in Indonesia. However, this study analyses one single cultural background from a specific tribe in Indonesia and since it was undertaken to a single cultural background, it will be worth to extend this study and investigation into several cultural and value backgrounds from various ethnic groups/tribes in Indonesia or any other countries. Comparatively, this will add knowledge and dimension regarding entrepreneurship and its relationship to cultural dimension and perceived values of a society/community/ethnic group.


Introduction
West Sumatra is one the provinces in Indonesia in which the Minangkabau

Literature Review
The existence of the cultural context on entrepreneurship has been explored since many years by the scholars.The result, however, is little known about the complex role of culture in the rise and fall of business ownership, Verheul et. al. (2001).We cannot generalize the culture of each social system and network which can affect entrepreneurship and therefore, the study of cultural context on entrepreneurship became more complex and cannot be clearly summarized.(1980).
An approach of the cultural context in entrepreneurship can also be analyzed by using the framework of institutional analysis from Williamson

Entrepreneurship
As Hofstede (1980Hofstede ( , 2012Hofstede ( and 2014)), the culture of Indonesian people in general is dominated by the culture of collectivist, higher power distance, lower uncertainty avoidance and tend to be more feminine.Similarly, Mangundjaya (2010) found that the people of Indonesia is   (Elfindri et al., 2010).This philosophy is successfully implemented and as a result one can find many Minang entrepreneurs nationwide.
As Hofstede (1980 and2012), the culture of Indonesian people in general is dominated by the culture of collectivist, higher power distance, lower uncertainty avoidance and tend to be more feminine.
Comparing the culture dimension of Indonesian people to the Minangkabau people, the results can be seen in the following table.Hofstede (1980 and2012) **) as found by Mangundjaya (2010) We can see from that comparison above that the values of the Minangkabau

Summary and Implication
Analysing and considering culture tribe lives.Minangkabau tribe is well known as one of the friendliest tribal groups in Indonesia.They love to talk and chat with visitors and will tell us about their unique society freely.If a visitor tries to understand the culture and Minang traditions he will soon feel himself a member of the clan.He will be invited as a guest to their homes as part of their culture hospitality -a unique way to become acquainted with real Indonesian life.They will show us the community and explain their customs.The people are hospitable and eloquent in a poetic style of speech and ceremonies.Festivals are colourful occasions.Most of the West Sumatran people are Moslem (more than 90%) and we can find mosques easily in all parts of the province.The culture of West Sumatra is founded on their main religion (Islam) and therefore, most of cultural occasions and festivals are rooted from the Islamic spirits.Although most of the populations are Moslem, the West Sumatran people are considered as one of the most moderate Moslem populations in Indonesia.They are tolerant and can easily live with other people from different religions.They can also adapt easily to other people and places, and therefore they can also easily live outside of their homeland.Family and its culture is one of the most important elements for the West Sumatran people.People conveniently stay in their core family and their relationship with the big family members remains close over time, wherever they live.The West Sumatran is one of the tribes in the world, which has the 'matrilineal system' in their family system.Thus, females have very important position in the family and can take the most important decision for the whole family, especially if they are related with the cultural issues (the legacies, assets of the clan, cultural ceremonies etc.).Travelling and living outside of the province is considered as a mark and indicator of success.Many Minang people are being found "merantau" (emigrated) to other parts of the country, mostly doing entrepreneurial activities.In merantau, the young males (mostly after the ages of 18-20) leave their homeland; emigrate to other places and running entrepreneurial activities for their daily life.Initially, it is done with the help and assistance of mentors (who are also the West Sumatran people and successful entrepreneurs) by providing employment opportunities in their businesses.The businesses are various, but mostly in trading and restaurants.Learning processes are then starting and running within this stage and after the young are ready, they can start their own businesses using their savings and sometimes, with a small loan from relatives.In the philosophy of West Sumatran entrepreneurs, one successful West Sumatran entrepreneur should create at least three young West Sumatran entrepreneurs, (Elfindri et al., 2010).This philosophy is successfully used and as a consequence one can find many Minang or Padang entrepreneurs nationwide.Restaurant that serves famous very spicy food throughout the country is a typical example of how the process of merantau successfully creates many Minang entrepreneurs.The process of merantau has also created many West Sumatran traders who have important positions in Indonesian trading activities and communities.
study ofVerheul et.el.(2001), the cultural aspect is categorized as one of the determinants of entrepreneurship.They overviewed that the determinant of entrepreneurship can be analyzed based on the level approach; micro, meso and macro level approaches as well as demand and supply approaches.The objects of the study in the level approach are entrepreneur as an individual or business, sectors of industry and national economy.The cultural aspect in entrepreneurship categorize as one of the aspects in the micro level approach which focusing its analysis in the decision making process of individuals and the motives of people to become self-figure which is named as 'The institutional Context and its Relationship to Entrepreneurship' (see GEM Global Report 2011, p. 4), in which the cultural context and social norms are being considered as a part of an institutional framework that relates to entrepreneurship.Shane et al. (1995) emphasized their study on three aspects of Hofstede's concept of cultural dimensions named the power distance, uncertainty avoidance and individualism.They found that the more uncertainty avoiding, the more power distant, and the more collective a society is, the more people prefer a champion to work through organizational norms and rules, to gain support of those in authority, and to get support for any innovation effort.Their finding, especially one which is related with the individualism is closely related with the opinion of Samit, (2005).Both of them suggested that individualist cultures tend to be more entrepreneurial in that they succeed, not by appealing to group norms and personal ties, but by convincing others of the validity of their vision.et al. (2002), Noorderhaven et al. (2002) and Noorderhaven et al. (2003) pointed that a climate of high uncertainty avoidance in large organizations push enterprises individuals to go out and create their own business/venture.Linking the result of those above mentioned studies with the Hofstede's cultural dimension concept, one can summarize that the greater indexes of individualism and masculinity along with the lower indexes of uncertainty avoidance and power distance will be a favourable condition to foster entrepreneurship within community/society.In reverse, the lower indexes of individualism and masculinity along with the greater indexes of uncerntainty avoidance and poer distance will be a detrimental condition to foster entrepreneurship within community / society.The facts can be seen in the most entrepreneurial countries in the world (such as US, UK, Switzerland, Canada, Japan, France, Germany etc.) which have tendencies as above.Meanwhile, most African, South American and some Asian countries tend to be less entrepreneurial because their cultural dimension indexes show that they have lower indexes of individualism and masculinty along with the greater indexes of uncertainty avoidance and power distance.

Following
Bjerke and Hultman (2002) further mentioned that in a society where the culture has lower uncertainty avoidance, entrepreneurship is more innovative and the process to become an entrepreneur is generally more direct, faster and less complicated (p.119).Regarding the power distance, Indonesian people are having high power distance.Bjerke and Hultman (2002) used their own terminology to describe the power distance in the culture.They used the terms 'long'power distance instead of high power distance and the term 'short'power distance instead of low power distance.However, the terminologies are considered to have the same meaning.In the case of Indonesian people who have high or long power distance and relate it to entrepreneurship,Bjerke and Hultman (2002) argued that in this type of culture, initiatives for entrepreneurial activities come normally from the top (p.123) and control of all aspects of a new venture effort by the entrepreneurs could be very detailed and frequent (p.124).Based on the index and the concept of cultural dimensions by Hofstede and if we link them to the studies about the relationship between culture and entrepreneurship that had been done by scholarsindexes of IDV and MAS along with the lower indexes of UAI and PDI will be a favourable condition to foster entrepreneurship within community / society.In reverse, the lower indexes of IDV and MAS along with the greater indexes of UAI and PDI will be a detrimental condition to foster entrepreneurship within community / society.If we sort out the index of Indonesian cultural dimensions, we can see that Indonesia has the high PDI, very low IDV, high UAI and low MAS.be categorized as the society which would not let the conducive climate of entrepreneurship as it has high PDI, high UAI, low IDV and low MAS.The conclusion that we can make from Hofstede's cultural dimension related to Indonesian culture:1.Indonesia has high inequalities between member of its society and the power is distributed unequal.This is shown by the high PDI 2. Indonesia has high uncertainty and the society tend to minimize this uncertainty by stating many rules and regulations that are applied to the members of the societies.This is shown by the high UAI.Minang tribe is founded on their main religion (Islam) and therefore, cultural occasions and festivals are rooted from the Islamic spirits which are described in the saying; the tradition (adat) is founded upon Islam and Islam is founded upon the Quran.Despite most of the population are fervent Muslims, the Minang tribe embraced the idea of incorporating Islamic ideals into modern society and therefore, they are considered as one of the most moderate Muslim populations in Indonesia.The presence of intellectuals combined with religiosity and their basic character have made Minangkabau land becomes a unique place to live.People are tolerant and can easily live with others from different religions and cultures.They can also adapt easily to other people and places, and therefore they can also easily live outside of their homeland.The Minang tribe recognizes three pillars that build and maintain its integrity.They are alim ulama (Islam scholars), cerdik pandai (intellectual) and ninik mamak (uncles and the leaders of the tradition).Alim ulama maintains the integrity of the religion (Islam), cerdik pandai maintains the integrity of knowledge and ninik mamak maintains the integrity of customs and tradition.Together, they perform the main foundation of the tribe and are named as Tungku Tigo Sajarangan.All matters regarding the interests of the tribe are discussed by them so that all members of the tribe are benefited from a democratic system to solve problems and make decisions that are important.As a result, Minang people are well known with their spacious thinking, freedom of life to change the fate and to reach knowledge and wealth.They have habit to think carefully and correctly and analyze all knowledge criticallybut still applying hospitality as part of their basic character.and educators.Family and its culture is one of the most important elements of life for the Minang people.People conveniently stay in their core family and their relationship with family members remains close over time, wherever they live.The Minang tribe is one of the tribes in the world, which has the 'matrilineal system' as their family system.In fact, the Minangs are the world's largest matrilineal society in which properties such as land and houses are inherited through female lineage.Thus, females have a very important position in the family and can make the most important decision for the whole family, especially if they are related to the cultural and tradition issues (the legacies, assets of the clan, cultural ceremonies etc.).Travelling, wandering and living outside of the province are considered as a mark and indicator of success of the Minang males (although nowadays, Minang females are also doing this).Many Minang people are being found "merantau" (emigrated) to other parts of the country, mostly doing entrepreneurial activities or just to study.Merantau has become part of the culture of the Minang tribeas the nature of Minang people which is mobile and prefer for not working as an employee, (Bungo & Husin, 2011).A family will be proud to answer the question regarding the job of its children as an entrepreneur or trader rather revealing that their children are just working as an employee.Success as an entrepreneur or trader has become pride, status and symbol of a family.In merantau, the young males (mostly after the ages of 18-20) leave their homeland; emigrate to other places and running entrepreneurial activities for their daily life.The process of merantau is started as early as the age of 7, when boys are traditionally encouraged by their parents and big family to take part actively (and even live) in surau (a muslim prayer house and community centre) to learn religious and cultural teachings, traditional Minang's self-defence (which is called as pencak silat) and establishing friendship and network .The boys are mentored by Islam's leader of the society (alim ulama) during their stay in surau.In this stage, there is no signs of entrepreneurship learning was given by the ulama.The main objective is only to prepare the young boys' mentality and personality to face challenges in their life.As the boys are becoming the teenagers, they are then encouraged to leave their homeland to learn practical things from their experience out of their homeland.Some of them are studying in other parts of the country but most of them are actively entering into entrepreneurial activities, mostly as informal traders.In this stage, the teenagers are prepared with all experience and practical knowledge so that when they are adults they could return home wise and useful for the society and can contribute their thinking and experience to run the big family or nagari .61-66) the reasons of the Minang tribe for doing merantau are: (1) ecology and geography, (2) economy, and (3) education.In the reason of ecology and geography, the Minang tribe realized that their homeland is located out of the centre and axis of Indonesian trade and politics.To be developed, they should go and struggle outside of their homeland.The reason of economy is related to the huge opportunities of gaining wealth in other locations rather than in their homeland.Meanwhile in the educational reason, the young generation of the Minang tribe believes that they will get better education outside of their homeland.Those reasons and the process of merantau itself have created specific characteristic and have become the cultural values of the Minang tribe (Pelly, 1988 p. 19).Initially, the Minang entrepreneurs are getting in touch in entrepreneurial activities with the help and assistance of mentors (who are also the Minang people and successful entrepreneurs) by providing temporary employment opportunities in their businesses.The businesses are various, but mostly trading (textiles, gold and silver handicrafts, antiques goods), printing services, private educational services, tourism services and restaurants.Learning processes are then started and enacted within this stage and after the young are ready, they can start their own businesses using their savings and sometimes, with a small loan from relatives.In the philosophy of Minang entrepreneurs, one successful West Sumatran entrepreneur should create at least three young Minang entrepreneurs,

Mangundjaya ( 2010 )
describes the culture of Minangkabau people as are characterized by its Matriarchate culture, which means that women are the ones that play an important role in the family.Men are usually living out of their hometown to earn a better living (doing Merantau) and usually act as an entrepreneur.The people never forget their family as well as the key person in their cultureas they have an important role in their life.The Minangkabau people perceive the environment as unstable and want to adjust to the environment and they are giving very much respect to the elderly and seniority.To conclude this, Mangundjaya (2010 p. 62) argued that the Minangkabau people are characterized as; innovative and the process to become an entrepreneur is generally more direct, faster and less complicated (p.119).The fact from Bjerke and Hultman's argument can be found to the Minangkabau peoplewhere they have lower uncertainty avoidance and as the result, entrepreneurship becomes a common choice of living for the people.The long term orientation of the Minangkabau people as part of its values also contributes to the creation of the Minang entrepreneurs.As Bjerke and Hultman (2002), most entrepreneurship is a long term commitment (p.121).Regarding the power distance, both Indonesian and Minangkabau people are having high power distance.Bjerke and Hultman (2002) used their own terminology to describe the power distance in the culture.They used the terms 'long'power distance instead of high power distance and the term 'short' power distance instead of low power distance.However, the terminologies are considered to have the same meaning.In the case of Indonesian people and Minangkabau people who have high or long power distance and relate it to entrepreneurship, Bjerke and Hultman (2002) argued that in this type of culture, initiatives for entrepreneurial activities come normally from the top (p.123) and control of all aspects of a new venture effort by the entrepreneurs could be very detailed and frequent (p.124).
of a society (and people) is a very tough and difficult task to undertake, in particular if it should be related to entrepreneurship.This paper shows an evidence that culture and perceived values of a society also play an important role to create and maintain entrepreneurial habits and experience of a certain societyin this paper, this is shown by the Minangkabau tribe in West Sumatra, which are famous as an entrepreneurial tribe in Indonesia.The indirect impact of the determinant to entrepreneurial culture is shown by the existence of an informalcultural based entrepreneurial learning within the Minangkabau people in the form of merantau, which also supports their very conducive and supportive entrepreneurial culture.Compared to the cultural dimension and perceived value of Indonesian people in general, the Minangkabau tribe is relatively different in terms of uncertainty avoidance and orientation for its future life.The Minangkabau tribe is considered as being more tolerant to the uncertainty in their life and future and have a long-term orientation in their future life.Having these as their nature and the existence of an informal cultural based entrepreneurial learning, the Minangkabau tribe is considered to be more entrepreneurial rather than many tribes/ethnic groups in Indonesia.The difference of the Minangkabau tribe with other tribes in Indonesia can also be found in the Minangkabau's kinship system which is a matrilineal system that puts females in a very important position in their culture and social system.This study analyses one single cultural background from a specific tribe in Indonesia and compared it with the analysis of Indonesian culture and values.As it was undertaken to a single cultural background (West Sumatra culture), it will be worth to extend this study and investigation into several cultural dimension, perceived value and kinship system backgrounds from various ethnic groups/tribes in Indonesia or other countries.Comparatively, this will add knowledge and dimension regarding the formation of entrepreneurial culture as a result of the combination between cultural dimension and perceived values of a society/community/ethnic group.

Table 1 .
support of the group to succeed (p.117).