BUSINESS INCUBATION SUPPORT, INNOVATION, AND ENTREPRENEURIAL CREATIVITY IN SALTED-FISH PROCESSING MSMEs: AN EXPLORATORY PILOT STUDY IN RANTAU BAYUR, INDONESIA

Ita Ita; Saladdin Wirawan  Effendy; Sela Taramita

doi:10.61397/mfc.v4i2.640

Authors

Ita Ita Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Nasional
Saladdin Wirawan Effendy Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Nasional
Sela Taramita Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Nasional

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61397/mfc.v4i2.640

Keywords:

business incubation; innovation; entrepreneurial creativity; MSMEs; salted-fish processing; pilot study

Abstract

Salted-fish processing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) contribute to local livelihoods but often operate under resource constraints involving finance, technology, market access, and managerial capabilities. Business incubation may help address these constraints; however, the mechanism through which incubation-related support is translated into entrepreneurial creativity remains insufficiently understood in traditional, resource-constrained sectors. This exploratory pilot study examines the associations among business incubation support, innovation, and entrepreneurial creativity among salted-fish processing MSMEs in Rantau Bayur District, Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra, Indonesia. The available pilot dataset comprises 11 owner-managers. The three constructs were measured using 54 Likert-type indicators. Given the extremely small sample, the analysis is treated as preliminary diagnostics rather than confirmatory structural modelling. Descriptive statistics, internal-consistency estimates, exploratory measurement diagnostics, ordinary least-squares path regressions, and a 10,000-resample bootstrap procedure are reported as supplied in the source analysis. Business incubation support was positively associated with innovation (β = 0.869; R² = 0.756), and innovation was positively associated with entrepreneurial creativity (β = 1.249). The direct association between incubation support and creativity was negative and statistically non-significant (β = −0.530), while the estimated indirect association through innovation was positive (β = 1.086; 95% bootstrap CI [0.308, 1.941]). These estimates are highly uncertain because of the sample size, unusually large standardized coefficients, and evidence of inadequate discriminant validity between incubation support and innovation (HTMT = 0.905). The findings therefore identify a tentative pattern for subsequent testing, not a confirmed mediation effect. The study highlights the need for implementation-oriented support that connects mentoring and training with feasible product, process, packaging, technology, and market innovations.

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