The Critical Role of Tacit Knowledge of Technopreneurs Towards Sustainable Success in the ICT SMEs in Malaysia

This study aims to examine the important role of tacit knowledge among ICT technopreneurs in facing the ever-fierce and challenging business and economic situation, especially after the world just came out of Covid-19. A semi-structured interview method was used to collect data from 15 ICT technopreneurs from SMEs in ICT-related industries in Malaysia. This study uses word cloud analysis to get an initial idea of the role of tacit knowledge and employs thematic analysis to extract and visualize data patterns and themes to gain a more informed understanding of the interviews that have been conducted. The findings of the study show that among the important roles of tacit knowledge of technopreneurs are to facilitate the negotiation process, risk taking, decision making, leadership, and strategy development to help ICT technopreneurs to face current business challenges. This study confirms that tacit knowledge is very significant in helping ICT technopreneurs to deal with challenging business situations and in achieving success in the ICT business.