Understanding Reasons for Modest Success of Multimedia Super Corridor of Malaysia: A Case for Developing Countries

Abstract

Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) is a Flagship project of Malaysian government to steer the country towards knowledge economy, started in 1996 the project has entered its third and final phase of development after 2010.Government of Malaysia presents a successful picture of MSC, however it has been criticized for not achieving its desired goals, a simple comparison he world presents a bleak picture, plus in terms of generating a visible entrepreneurial activity MSC has fallen short. What are the reasons for this short fall, this research paper tries to answer this question by comparing or analyzing the core success factors of Silicon Valley to Multimedia Super Corridor. The core success factors which played the major role in the success of Silicon Valley are the Central role of Stanford University, Entrepreneurial orientation of society, and skilled and creative work force. Research shows that in case of Multimedia Super Corridor Universities were not involved in the planning and development of the project, entrepreneurial orientation of the society appears to be weak, brain drain is a serious issue, and strategies to attract talent from around the world are not effective. It is because of the absence of these fundamental elements due to which MSC has not been a success story. Developing countries which are trying to imitate project like MSC must make sure that universities are made autonomous and independent to define strategies and policy for the way ahead. Entrepreneurship depends a lot on the culture of the society, a society where failure is a stigma might not produce entrepreneurs, failure should be seen as a learning step, and risk taking should be encouraged. Lastly policies to retain talent and attract should be adopted, social justice, opportunity for all, are a few policy themes which should be pursued to prevent marginalization of group to retain talent.