UTM graduate Tan Hee Keat is a good example of ‘intrapreneurship’ – actually in a local small business setting. Utilising what he learned on the University’s entrepreneurship course, he helped his employer prepare a winning-entry business plan for an entrepreneurship competition. Now, the company has tasked him with turning the business concept into reality

For many students, attending university is primarily about acquiring knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as establishing networks to prepare for the job market. In recent decades, a new perspective has emerged: universities can also train and prepare students to become entrepreneurs – self-employed individuals who use their knowledge and skills to develop business opportunities and become employers rather than employees.

While employment and entrepreneurship are commonly-discussed career paths, there is another less talked about but equally significant option: intrapreneurship. This term refers to an individual acting as an entrepreneur within a company or organisation.

Intrapreneurs are employees who develop new visions for their employer’s business, identify opportunities, create resources, innovate, and lead. They often occupy roles such as being either innovation managers, product development directors, research and development directors, strategic initiative managers or even chief executive officers.

In the teaching of entrepreneurship courses at UTM, Assistant Professor Dr. Fernando Lourenço – who specialises in this field – reminds students that they can become an intrapreneur. One example of a former course student-turned-intrapreneur is Mr. Tan Hee Keat, a Malaysian national who, in 2023, received a Bachelor of Science in Culinary Arts Management from UTM.

Upon graduation, Mr. Tan secured a job as a pastry chef at Macao’s Bamu Bakery. In recent years, the company has expanded, opening more stores and establishing new brands such as Bamboo Bistro & Bar and the Yunnan speciality coffee brand Le Blanc. Bamu Bakery has also engaged in crossover collaborations, such as one incorporating use of the local cartoon character Whatelephant, in order to target local and tourist consumers.

Earlier this year, Mr. Tan had the opportunity to help his employer take part in an entrepreneurship competition initiated by local integrated resort operator Sands China, called the Entrepreneurship Recruitment Programme for Rua das Estalagens. The contest was part of Sands China’s community revitalisation programme: it aimed to drive the economic regeneration of the neighbourhood around Rua das Estalagens on Macao peninsula, by encouraging Macao enterprises to use their creativity to develop new cultural and tourism attractions there. This initiative aligned with the Macao Government’s urban revitalisation strategy.

Sands China offered start-up funding for the practical implementation of the winning competition entries, with an upper limit of MOP1 million per enterprise. Each entry was judged on certain criteria: its overall business model; its business feasibility; its level of innovation, including the extent to which it could be considered unique; and the attractiveness of its proposed concept.

For the competition, Mr. Tan and his colleagues at Bamu Bakery developed a business plan and concept for a new ice-cream business called “Travessa Gelato”, to be located in Rua das Estalagens. Their proposal targeted the introduction of an Italian ice-cream shop that would offer fresh and unique flavour combinations.

Mr. Tan says that for the project, he applied critical knowledge he had gained from his entrepreneurship course at UTM, such as creating an appropriate business model, developing a business plan, and crafting effective presentations and pitches. Throughout this process, Mr. Tan sought guidance from his former UTM professor, Dr. Lourenço, which highlights UTM’s solid relationships across professional sectors, and its continued support for its graduates.

On 25 July, at the award ceremony for the competition, Sands China announced that of the 120 eligible applicants, seven business plans had been selected to receive support, following three rounds of rigorous evaluation. Travessa Gelato was among them. With this success, Mr. Tan was promoted to lead the future Travessa Patisserie as store manager and pastry sous chef.

Content: Dr. Fernando Lourenço, Assistant Professor at UTM’s Faculty of Creative Tourism and Intelligent Technologies
Editor: UTM Public Relations Team