Digital Entrepreneurship Intentions Among Port and Shipping Management Cadets: A Theory of Planned Behavior Study

Abstract

The digitalization of maritime logistics — encompassing freight-technology platforms, smart port applications, digital cargo marketplace systems, and AI-driven supply chain optimization tools — has created new entrepreneurial opportunity spaces for port and shipping management graduates that conventional PSM curriculum, oriented toward operational employment rather than venture creation, has not yet formally recognized or cultivated. This study examines digital entrepreneurship intentions among 10 Port and Shipping Management cadets at Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Pelayaran (STIP) Jakarta through a Theory of Planned Behavior-based correlational design, examining the relationships among Digital Business Exposure, Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy, Perceived Environmental Support, and Digital Entrepreneurship Intention. Results reveal a strong positive correlation between Digital Business Exposure and Digital Entrepreneurship Intention (r = .74, p = .014), a moderate-strong correlation between Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Digital Entrepreneurship Intention (r = .68, p = .031), and a non-significant correlation between Perceived Environmental Support and Intention (r = .52, p = .124). Multiple regression analysis identified Digital Business Exposure as the dominant independent predictor of entrepreneurship intention (β = .58, p = .028), with the full model explaining 71% of intention variance (R² = .71). Descriptive findings reveal a positive but not yet operationalized entrepreneurial orientation (DEI M = 3.31/5) alongside a constrained Perceived Environmental Support (PES M = 2.84/5), indicating that PSM cadets possess digital entrepreneurship intention that institutional environment has not yet actively cultivated. The study contributes the first empirical investigation of digital entrepreneurship intentions in Indonesian maritime vocational education.