Final Year Project as Impetus to Entrepreneurial Intention: A Cross-cultural Analysis

This paper performed a cross-dimensional analysis in three-folds: assessment of entrepreneurial dimensions during the conduct of Final Year Project (FYP), implementation of FYP as start-up and the challenges faced by the students on the realization of the FYP as a start-up. There were 281 survey and 24 focused interview participants from the two private higher education institutions in Oman and the Philippines. The FYP students in both countries and specializations exhibited high entrepreneurial spirit but none of them utilized the projects as a start-up. The challenges faced in turning the project to business venture were lack of business knowledge, entrepreneurial attitudes and skills. Overall, there was one in every six students who intended for a start-up whereas one in every six teachers believed students can do so. One in every three teachers expected students to be employees. The results clearly emphasized an ’employee’ culture and ’employment to entrepreneurship’ pattern of education. Therefore, colleges and universities must capitalize on the strong entrepreneurial spirit and intention of the students to create start-ups through linking the entrepreneurial support programs to the FYP. The sustainable campus entrepreneurship to address the identified challenges of lack of business knowledge, skills and values must be promoted.


Introduction
One of the primary goals of colleges and universities is to produce graduates who can be employees, if not entrepreneurs. With the very limited opportunities for employment, student-entrepreneurs became a hit. Entrepreneurship education was offered across all programs to accelerate students' intention to start own business (Soutaris, Zerbinati & Allaham, 2007). In addition, the higher education curricula included an FYP as an avenue for students not only to develop skills but to conceptualize a feasible project for a start-up business. As FYP develops human capital (Rokiah et al, 2010) through the skills learned, it also equips the students with a realistic view of the industry to belong to. The project proposal gears towards a solution to a specific problem (Lopez et al, 2003) keeping students abreast of the advancement of the industry needs. While the project prepares the students for employment (Thomas, 2008), it also entices students to turn this into a real venture.
Adelakun-Adeyamo (2016) notes that experience in the FYP measures the likelihood to continue in the career.
Different programs offer varied FYPs. For most of the business programs, a feasibility study or a business proposal is a common assessment whereas technical programs such as Computing Science and Engineering offer software or hardware development.
Whatever output the project requires, it gauges potentials and abilities of the students (Shafie, Janier & Herdiana, 2008) and defines the capacity to provide solutions to industry needs. Hong et al. (2012) observe that projects vary according to the personal characteristics and social context of the students. While students are expected to turn the projects to a moneygenerating venture, it is also expected for them to possess the qualities of an entrepreneur.
However, the intention to turn FYPs as real ventures falls short of expectations. For instance, a study conducted by Velasquez et al. (2018) on the entrepreneurial intention of students in Colombia showed that out of the 80.2% who had been trained to create a company, only 22.4% done so. The same result was obtained by Looi & Khoo-Lattimore (2015) in Malaysia wherein undergraduates' propensity for new business is less likely as an option. Latif, Abdullah, & Mohd (2016) raised the issue of the commercialization of research products to entrepreneurial orientation while Renganathan, Yasin, Perumal, Tahir & Chelvarayan (2012) to entrepreneurial skills. While researchers attribute entrepreneurial intention to various e-ISSN 2799-0303 │ 57 factors, it is a fact that entrepreneurship education increases the entrepreneurial intention of students (Israr & Saleem, 2018).
Entrepreneurship education aims to convert thinkers to doers. It shapes student behaviors to be entrepreneurial (Fayolle & Gailly, 2005) and influences character to start forming new organizations (Volery & Mueller, 2006). In several studies, entrepreneurship education has been instrumental in increasing the desirability of the students in starting a business (Peterman & Kennedy, 2003;Kuttim et al., 2014;Galloway & Brown, 2002;Gerba, 2012). However, the question remains as to realizing its goal to produce real entrepreneurs after the completion of the programs. Similarly, the realization of FYP as business ventures after completion.
According to Cho & Lee (2018), an entrepreneurial opportunity is the start of a business. This study anchors the FYP as a potential start-up venture for students. It compares two programs: business management and computing science. The former's project refers to the business proposal in the final year that requires preparation of feasibility study and product presentation. The latter's final year proposal is an industry-based system software development that can be licensed and commercialized. This underscores the entrepreneurial dimensions of the students in realizing the project and the perceived challenges in doing so.
The comparison of business and non-business programs tests the influence of business orientation on the entrepreneurial intention. This also aims to compare two different cultures and orientations which are Oman and the Philippines. Although these countries are separated by religion, the entrepreneurial trend remains the same. Mendoza (2018) sees more young Omani students thrive in opening business. A similar scenario is described by Reyes (2018) as the rise of Filipino millennial entrepreneurs. As such it is assumed that higher education students in both countries intend to open own business after the completion of the project proposal.
The findings of the study add to the general literature on the value of FYP as a potential start-up since there is a limited study on this nature. In addition, the crossdimensional analysis which tests the influence of country of origin and program specialization provides a solid background on sustainable campus entrepreneurship. The triangulation of the results through assessments of both the teachers and the students gives concrete data on the strengths and weaknesses of entrepreneurship education in both

The Final Year Project as students' start-up venture
There are lots of leading industries that all started with crazy ideas as university projects which eventually served a market need. According to Haden (2017), 42% of failed start-ups are due to a lack of market need. This is where the university FYP comes in. For most of the student projects, the primary step is an environmental scanning that aims to find out the market needs or social problems that need to be addressed. Hoyt (2015) enumerated some excellent examples of college start-ups such as Microsoft and Google which started with little-to-no-capital but full of vision to make a niche. These simple ideas can be intentionally planned and implemented in entrepreneurial projects (Gupta & Bhawe, 2007).
In today's global environment, college students pitch ideas to start a small venture within the university grounds (Chandra, 2015). Amway (2018) as cited by Bliemel (2019) calculated that nearly 50% are willing to take risk of starting own business. For this, colleges and universities should act as breeding grounds for students' start-up projects (Pursey, 2019).
Colleges provide the resources and the means to help students carry on with the projectfrom idea generation to support system in the implementation. There are limited studies on the success of FYPs or even the venture intention of students on the FYPs. There are certain underlying concerns on the not so successful journey of students' FYPs. Zaring, Gifford & McKelvey (2019) argue on the natural influence of education on entrepreneurial skills and attitudes. The authors believe that business modeling might reduce students' willingness to start-up new venture due to risk-averse. Exposing the students to too many theories on the complexities of start-ups discourage them in the first place. However, Xu (2019) is optimistic about the right timing to fund a start-up as a student.
There are valuable resources available including the incredible actual learnings from mentors. But with FYP alone is a bit expensive, how much more in turning it to a start-up? While Chand (2019) cites the USA with available venture capital exclusive for start-up projects, this is not the same case with other universities, particularly in Asia where limited funding is available for start-up projects. The majority of the projects are funded by the students themselves. While it is easier for business students, at a much cheaper cost, technical students are a bit disadvantaged. For this, the European Commission (2008) highlights important measures that universities must implement to develop business starters.
It was suggested to formulate institutional policies to promote entrepreneurship, comprehensive intellectual property policy to safeguard the innovations developed by students and teachers, supportive incubators, strong links with business and financial institutions and financial grants for starters.

Methodology
This study employed quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative data were gathered primarily through a survey using a self-made and experts validated questionnaire which specifically measured the students' entrepreneurial capabilities, skills, characteristics and spirit. Moreover, the qualitative data were collected through a focus online interview of the FYP students and teachers. students-respondents (90% response rate). Both the university offer FYP in the two programs. In Oman, the FYP for the Computing Sciences students is a capstone project on software development which is similar to the Computing Science requirement in the Philippine. On the other hand, the FYP of Business Management students in Oman is an entrepreneurial trade fair of student-prepared products whereas a project feasibility study is a requirement in the Philippines. The data gathering were facilitated by selected teachers of the program.
To supplement the quantitative data, a focused interview of teachers and students was conducted from September 1 to September 30, 2019, through face-to-face and online modes.
It was focused on the assessment of the FYP as a start-up and the associated challenges faced. There was a total of 24 respondents segregated into 6 business management lecturers, 6 computing science lecturers, 6 business management students and 6 computing science students. These numbers were equally distributed between Oman and the Philippines. The researcher personally interviewed face-to-face in Oman while online for the Philippines respondents. The student-respondents were personally endorsed by the respective teachers.
The respondents were given the interview questions before the actual conduct. Some of them wrote the answers and handed the same during the interview session.
The researcher tried to get the same sets of student-respondents from the two previously conducted surveys. However, there was no mechanism to trace them. Thus selected and endorsed graduates from the academic year 2018 -2019 were taken as replacements. These students were under the same teachers in the FYP. Although there were different sets of student-respondents, the goal of the study to evaluate the entrepreneurial intention of the students remains the same. Moreover, the teachers who were handling the FYP for the last three years were automatically included for the interview.
The quantitative data were tabulated through the weighted means. The outcome of the interview was analysed using thematic analysis. In a tabular format, the transcript was converted to themes and categories with the associated keywords.  For instance, the practical application of innovation and creativity through product or marketing development exposes business students to the real scenario of a start-up. Although computing science offers courses on entrepreneurship, the practical application is still limited. However, the introduction of 'technopreneurship' offers practical applications to students specifically on intellectual property, copyright and commercialization issues.

Students' entrepreneurial dimensions
However, it is interesting to note that although entrepreneurship courses are not offered to the computing science curriculum in the Philippines, the confidence level on the entrepreneurial dimensions is even higher than the two programs in Oman. The situation in the country has some emotional effects on the desire to become successful. As the students in the Philippines boost the resilience, the confidence level also increases. During the time of uncertainty of employment, business is the last resort (Berou, 2013). This is in contrast situation in Oman where opportunities both in entrepreneurship and employment are higher. The results affirm a healthy entrepreneurial mentality of the students as exhibited by selected students in Oman and the Philippines. The positive responses to the challenge of a start-up in terms of the FYP is a good indication that students are equipped with the right attitude to do so. As numerous researchers believe in the role of the youth in entrepreneurial development (Sitte & Rheault, 2009;Ferraz, 2014), the student-respondents gave a strong conviction on the role as change agents. The strong enthusiasm for start-ups is an excellent starting point. The current study finds that even though students have weak to average entrepreneurial capabilities there is a strong desire to start own business. Sell the product proposal is very promising as a start-up project; make this my own business

Intention for FYP as startup
Sell the project to who wants to buy it Table 2 showcases the students' intention of the FYP. It should be noted that two students from both programs in Oman already have business before the FYP. Except for the two, none of the student-respondents ventured into business right after the completion of the FYP and graduation from the program. The projects were shelved and did not even become a start-up. The results further revealed that 5 out of 12 FYP students are indecisive of the business plans. A ratio of 1 in every 6 students intended for the start-up but did not materialize. Meanwhile, 41.67% of the students intended not to put the projects into business.
Surprisingly, one business student did not mention any intention. Segregating the results by country, the ratio of indecisive students in the Philippines is 1:2. These students considered several factors before reaching a final decision. Meanwhile, the same ratio, 1:2 was the number of students with no business intention. Only 1 out of 6 students both in the Philippines and Oman was definite to realize FYP as a start-up. In terms of specialization, 1 in every 2 computing students was either indecisive or not into starting a business. It was somewhat surprising that only 1 in every 3 business students was either indecisive or positive to start a business.
The  -laham, 2007;Volery & Mueller, 2006) and shape entrepreneurial behaviors (Fayolle & Gailly, 2005), it is relatively clear that both countries and specializations fall short of the mission. The FYP does not accelerate the students' intention for a start-up. It is true that it only prepares them for employment (Thomas, 2008). However, there is still high hope for indecisive students to be entrepreneurial. This is the challenge for colleges and universities to produce doers and not merely thinkers. Table 3 shows that the teachers' perspective on entrepreneurial intention was even more pessimistic as shown by the ratio of 1:6 who believed that the students will venture into business as against 1:3 who expected them to be employees. However, quite surprising was the fact that half of the teachers were not even sure of the students' business intentions.
Sorting the responses according to country, it was depressing that none of the teachers in the Philippines trust that the students will be entrepreneurs. Two-thirds of the teachers were not sure of the students' intention whereas one-third believed them to be employees. This was in total contrast with the teachers in Oman where one-third anticipated them to be entrepreneurs. This was also equal to the teachers who were unsure of the students' entrepreneurial intentions and those who believed them to be employees. In terms of specialization, while none of the business lecturers were positive, 33% of computing lecturers expected the students to become entrepreneurs. The majority (67%) of the business lecturers trust that the students will be employees. The percentage of unsure lecturers was 67% for computing science and 33% for business.

Table 3
The lecturers' perspective on the students' FYP The primary purpose of FYP was defeated with the perspective of the teachers. This clearly emphasizes the role and influence of teachers in urging the students to take the risk and start the ventures. The lecturer's perception supports Thomas (2008)   Hamdi (2019), Santosdiaz (2018) and Al-Shanfari (2012). Given that the computing sciences offers a very limited course on entrepreneurship or general business, still, it is clear that even business students lack the necessary basic knowledge of business management. Although the entrepreneurship course is offered across all programs in Oman, there is still a gap in the implementation of the same.
The challenges identified by the teachers as shown in Table 4 were in contrast with those of the students. The majority of the teachers in a ratio of 1:2 identified capital and risk as to the top challenges in turning FYP as a start-up. Other challenges include lack of knowledge, drive and motivation, experience, lack of confidence, support, competition and fear of failure. These challenges were mainly students' attitudes and skills with 91.67%. The business knowledge (50%), and resources (50%) were also identified.
While the teachers pinpoint some personal factors on turning FYP as a start-up, it cannot deny the fact that the role is to guide the students to realize the goal. As commonly identified by both the students and the teachers, lack of capital is a big issue. Although there are available programs from both the government and private organizations in both countries, the percentage of student-entrepreneurs availing such support is a question. Moreover, the support must also be given by colleges and universities to fund potential projects for a startup. The bigger issue facing the education system is the total development of the students. As Fayolle & Gailly (2005) mentioned that education should develop students' entrepreneurial behaviors, the identified challenges reflect on the unmet tasks of teachers. There is indeed a lack of knowledge and skills among students on how to turn the FYP to start-up similar to the findings of Renganathan, Yasin, Perumal, Tahir & Chelvarayan (2012), (Velasco, 2013), Rauh-Bieri (2016) and Formoso (2016). The bigger challenge is an educational system that will equip students with knowledge, skills and values to become entrepreneurs.

Conclusion and Recommendation
This study assessed the entrepreneurial intention of business and computing students in the FYP in three-folds: assessment of entrepreneurial dimensions during the conduct of FYP, implementation of FYP as start-up and the challenges faced by the students on the realization of the FYP as a start-up. The respondents were students and teachers from two private higher education institutions in Oman and the Philippines. Both the quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized from the gathered data through survey and focused interview. The quantitative data in tabular form were treated with weighted mean while the thematic analysis was used for the qualitative part.
The FYP students in both countries and specializations exhibited high entrepreneurial spirit but none of them utilized the projects as a start-up. The challenges faced were lack of business knowledge, entrepreneurial attitudes and skills. The ratio of students with the firm intention for a start-up is 1:6; however, it has not materialized. This is the same ratio of teachers who believed them to be entrepreneurs while the majority of them in a ratio of 1:3 expected them to be employees. Moreover, one in every two computing students was either indecisive or not into starting a business while one in every three business students was either indecisive or positive to start a business. Although there were more indecisive students in the Philippines to venture into business, more students in Oman were not interested.
The results clearly emphasize an 'employee' culture and 'employment to entrepreneurship' pattern of education. It is certain that the FYP develops the entrepreneurial mind-set and increases students' intention but it does not successfully breed start-up projects.
There is a big gap between the primary aim and the implementation of entrepreneurship education. The differing expectations of the teachers and students serve as a barrier to the development of student-entrepreneurs. The teachers need to create healthy campus entrepreneurship that will build business knowledge, skills and values. In this regard, colleges and universities must capitalize on the strong entrepreneurial spirit and intention of the students to create start-ups through linking the entrepreneurial support programs to the FYP. It should be ensured that more valuable and viable projects are developed and sustained. Moreover, training and professional development should be given to both the students and teachers. These support programs should be part of the university framework so that more sustainable campus entrepreneurship is achieved.
Since there is a very limited study on the FYP, the current attempt to measure students' entrepreneurial intentions embarks limitations and opportunities. It has a limited number of respondents even though a higher retrieval rate was achieved. It cannot generalize the FYP due to its different nature and structure depending on the university requirements.
The different sets of respondents on the two data collection points might have affected the results. Despite the shortcomings, it has mapped out various areas of concern on both the FYP and entrepreneurship education. It is indeed necessary for follow-up research on the success and failure of start-up projects of the students.