Putting the individual back into the corporate entrepreneurial process : studies in the determinants and consequences of employee entrepreneurial behaviour

In order to survive and thrive in today’s modern and hyper-competitive environments, it is becoming increasingly necessary for firms to foster entrepreneurial and innovative activities. This particular thesis recognises that one of the most important sources of a firm’s entrepreneurialism and innovativeness is the entrepreneurial behaviour of its employees. However, many questions still remain in the existing literature with respect to how employees can become entrepreneurial, and what are the personal consequences for employees behaving entrepreneurially in the workplace. Broadly, this particular thesis to shed light on some of these important questions by utilising the JD-R model to examine the determinants and consequences of employee entrepreneurial behaviour. In order to address the objectives of thesis, four empirical studies were carried out. The first study was a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of employee entrepreneurial behaviour in established organisations. The rational for this study was to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge concerning employee entrepreneurial behaviours in pursuit of Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE). A careful review of the 26 SLR article found existing research into employee entrepreneurial behaviour to be highly quantitative in nature and focused mostly on determining the environmental and organisational related factors that enable such behaviour. More importantly though, findings from the SLR also revealed a gap in the literature concerning how the design of employees’ jobs and their attitudes towards their roles/job influences their entrepreneurial behaviour. The second study was a series of semi-structured interviews with nine entrepreneurial employees across a range of occupational groupings and industries. The rational for conducting this study was to understand how an employees’ active orientation towards their work influences their entrepreneurial behaviour. Findings suggested that an employees’ active orientation towards their jobs/role affects their entrepreneurial behaviours through self-determination, realising the significance of ones’ work/role and possessing specific capabilities and skills. The emergent concepts from the study were found to be similar to the similar to the established construct of Psychological Empowerment (PE). Study 3 was a quantitative survey designed to address the question of whether an employees’ Psychological Empowerment (PE) moderates the relationship between their Job Demands, Job Resources (job autonomy and task variety) and their entrepreneurial behaviour. The question was tested on a sample of 321 knowledge-workers from knowledge intensive organisations. Results indicated that different job resources and job demands can have differential effects on specific aspects of employee entrepreneurial behaviour and its associated dimensions. Study 4 was a qualitative in nature and consisted of a single case study of 11 entrepreneurial and innovative employees from a corporate incubator in Malaysia. This study sought to understand the personal-level consequence of employee entrepreneurial behaviour by addressing the question of which personal resources do employees develop from being entrepreneurial at work that positively influences their engagement at work. Findings indicated the formation of an entrepreneurial self, entrepreneurial learning, being optimistic about entrepreneurial activity, emerged as key personal resources developed by employees as a result of behaving entrepreneurially at work. Moreover, such personal resources were considered as particularly valuable resources by employees in that they helped them cope with the demands of their job/role and motivated entrepreneurial employees to stay engaged at work. By furthering our understanding of what determines employee entrepreneurial behaviour, and the psychological benefits of behaving entrepreneurially in the workplace, the thesis contributes to the existing literature by addressing calls in the field to better understand the nuances of employees’ entrepreneurial behaviour in established organisations. Additionally, by drawing on the JD-R model to examine the determinants and consequences of employee entrepreneurial behaviour, the thesis also demonstrates how the job design and proactive behavior literatures can be used to understand employee entrepreneurial behaviours.