Intrapreneurship; Conceptualizing entrepreneurial employee behaviour

This paper discusses the similarities and differences between intrapreneurship and independent entrepreneurship. Most but not all of the activities and behavioural aspects of the latter are also typical of the former phenomenon. Key differential elements of independent entrepreneurship are the investment of personal financial means and the related financial risk taking, a higher degree of autonomy, and legal and fiscal aspects of establishing a new independent business. Based on this discussion an integral conceptual model of intrapreneurial behaviour is presented. The paper closes with conclusions.

Antecedent determinants of beliefs underpinning the intention to accept and use business intelligence systems: the importance of organizational factors

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Capabilities for strategic flexibility:a cognitive content framework

Different forms of strategic flexibility allow for reactive adaptation to different changing environments and the proactive driving of change. It is therefore becoming increasingly important for decision makers to not only possess marketing capabilities, but also the capabilities for strategic flexibility in its various forms. However, our knowledge of the relationships between decision makers’ different ways of thinking and their capabilities for strategic flexibility is limited. This limitation is constraining research and understanding. In this article we develop a theoretical cognitive content framework that postulates relationships between different ways of thinking about strategy and different information-processing demands. We then outline how the contrasting beliefs of decision makers may influence their capabilities to generate different hybrid forms of strategic flexibility at the cognitive level. Theoretically, the framework is embedded in resource-based theory, personal construct theory and schema theory. The implications for research and theory are discussed

The influence of entrepreneurial and market orientations on small scale agricultural enterprises in the Vryburg region

Thesis (D. Tech. (Business Administration )) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013.A major concern for developing countries including South Africa is the high levels of unemployment, poverty and inequity. Developing countries have accordingly been pre-occupied with finding solutions to these problems. Drawing on the success of small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) from the developed countries such as the US and the UK, developing nations have embraced the idea of promoting development through SMMEs. But the overall performance of the small business sector in most developing countries has rather been dismal and as such have not been able to contribute optimally to the development agenda. Adopting a strategic management perspective, this study hypothesised that an integration of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientations (MO) glued together by innovativeness (INNO) would yield superior outcomes than the stand-alone effects of these strategic postures. To test the hypothesis, a sample of 198 small scale agricultural enterprises (SSAEs) in the Vryburg region was surveyed. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed on the data generated. The empirical findings showed that EO + MO + INNO interactively exhibited positive and significant correlation with the performance (sales growth and profitability) of SSAEs in the Vryburg region. However, the inter-correlations of EO + MO + INNO with business performance were practically moderate. The moderate correlations create opportunities for strengthening the entrepreneurial and market orientations and innovativeness of SSAES and in fact small businesses in general. An intensive and co-ordinated intervention of government and NGOs in transforming the small business sector into the real engine of growth of the economy is imperative. The study also attempted to predict firm performance holding EO + EO + INNO as predictor variables. Multi linear regression and multinomial logistic regression analysis however did not yield significant predictions of performance of SSAEs. This outcome provides a launch pad for further research into the proposed model in different settings because this study was mainly exploratory and executed in a rural and agricultural environments. Notwithstanding, the study made important contributions to the literature. It showed that it was possible to integrate EO + MO + INNO (previously viewed by many authors as exclusive constructs) into a single business model for the synergic enhancement of small business performance. It is hoped this would stimulate economic growth and development especially in developing countries

The Dynamics on Innovation Adoption in U.S. Municipalities: The Role of Discovery Skills of Public Managers and Isomorphic Pressures in Promoting Innovative Practices

abstract: Research on government innovation has focused on identifying factors that contribute to higher levels of innovation adoption. Even though various factors have been tested as contributors to high levels of innovation adoption, the independent variables have been predominantly contextual and community characteristics. Previous empirical studies shed little light on chief executive officers' (CEOs) attitudes, values, and behavior. Result has also varied with the type of innovation examined. This research examined the effect of CEOs' attitudes and behaviors, and institutional motivations on the adoption of sustainability practices in their municipalities. First, this study explored the relationship between the adoption level of sustainability practices in local government and CEOs' entrepreneurial attitudes (i.e. risk taking, proactiveness, and innovativeness) and discovery skills (i.e. associating, questioning, experimenting, observing, and networking) that have not been examined in prior research on local government innovation. Second, the study explored the impact of organizational intention to change and isomorphic pressures (i.e., coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures) and the availability and limit of organizational resources on the early adoption of innovations in local governments. Third, the study examines how CEOs' entrepreneurial attitudes and discovery skills, and institutional motivations account for high and low sustaining levels of innovation over time by tracking how much their governments have adopted innovations from the past to the present. Lastly, this study explores their path effects CEOs' entrepreneurial attitudes, discovery skills, and isomorphic pressures on sustainability innovation adoption. This is an empirical study that draws on a survey research of 134 CEOs who have influence over innovation adoption in their local governments. For collecting data, the study identified 264 municipalities over 10,000 in population that have responded to four surveys on innovative practices conducted by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) in past eight years: the Reinventing local government survey (2003), E-government survey (2004), Strategic practice (2006), and the Sustainability survey (2010). This study combined the information about the adoption of innovations from four surveys with CEOs' responses in the current survey. Socio-economic data and information about variations in form of government were also included in the data set. This study sheds light on the discovery skills and institutional isomorphic pressures that influence the adoption of different types of innovations in local governments. This research contributes to a better understanding of the role of administrative leadership and organizational isomorphism in the dynamic of innovation adoption, which could lead to improvements in change management of organizations.Dissertation/ThesisPh.D. Public Administration 201

Export entrepreneurial-oriented behaviour and export performance

Predicting export performance remains an important issue at the heart of export research and management. This is because of the primary role of exporting to ensuring the profitability, growth and survival of firms. Given these and other benefits that firms stand to gain (and the challenges that firms face) for their active engagement in exporting, scholars have exerted efforts into explaining the causes of export success. Export marketing strategy, firm characteristics, capabilities and firms’ orientations towards export markets are some the variables studied. Firms’ entrepreneurial orientation towards export markets has been one important variable that has captured the attention of researchers. This study is an attempt to introduce an export context-specific entrepreneurial-oriented behaviour (or export EOB) to the study of antecedents of export performance. A theoretical model involving the relationship between export EOB (and its dimensions) and export performance is, therefore, developed and empirically tested using data from 212 exporting organisations. Findings suggest that firms’ overall level of export EOB is a major driver of export success. The study further establishes that a high level of market-oriented behaviour in exporting organisations can help firms to derive stronger benefits from their entrepreneurial activities. At the specific level of the export EOB components, results suggest that development of novel product innovations, high export risk-taking, and strong proactive and competitively aggressive behaviours can help exporting organisations to improve their performance. However, product innovation intensity and autonomy are negatively related to export performance, suggesting that high levels of these two behaviours might lead to poor export performance. Nevertheless, further analysis shows that the negative association between product innovation intensity and export performance becomes positive when moderated by product innovation novelty. In addition, the study shows that autonomy has indirect positive association with export performance through interaction with proactiveness and competitive aggressiveness. In other words, autonomy facilitates the effectiveness of proactive and competitive aggressive behaviours. Further analyses of moderating effect relationships reveal mixed results. Specifically, the study finds that export market orientation positively moderates the link between production innovation intensity and export performance. In addition, export customer dynamism positively moderates the association of product innovation novelty and risk-taking with export performance. On the contrary, export customer dynamism negatively moderates the link between product innovation intensity and export performance. Theoretical, export managerial and policy implications of these findings are discussed and useful areas for future research are proposed

O papel da orientação para o mercado no desempenho das empresas sociais

Market orientation has been presented as an important predictor of business performance. However, it is presumed to contribute to long-term success, both in commercial and nonprofit enterprises. Similarly, entrepreneurship orientation is a concept that has been widely applied to business firms but has not been empirically tested in social enterprises. Moreover, the literature does not present a widely accepted and tested conceptual model relating entrepreneurship orientation, market orientation and performance, in the realm of social enterprises. In order to fill this gap, this research assesses how these strategic orientations affect social and economic performance in the setting of social enterprises. Structural equation modelling was used as a means to analyze the hypothesized relationships. After testing the model on a sample of 805 Portuguese social enterprises, the findings show that both social entrepreneurship and market orientations significantly impact social performance. The results also indicate that market orientation mediates the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on the performance of social enterprises.A Orientação para o Mercado é um preditor importante do desempenho das empresas. No entanto, presume-se que contribua para o sucesso a longo prazo, tanto das empresas comerciais como das sem fins lucrativos. Igualmente, a orientação para o empreendedorismo é um conceito que tem sido amplamente aplicado às empresas, mas não tem sido empiricamente testado em empresas sociais. Mais a mais, a literatura não apresenta um modelo conceptual amplamente aceite e testado relacionando a orientação para o empreendedorismo, a orientação para o mercado e a performance, na realidade das empresas sociais. A fim de preencher esta lacuna, esta investigação avalia como essas orientações estratégicas afetam o desempenho social e económico no contexto das empresas sociais. A modelagem de equações estruturais foi utilizada como meio de analisar as relações que servem de base às hipóteses propostas. Depois de testar o modelo numa amostra de 805 empresas sociais portuguesas, os resultados mostram que ambas, a orientação para o empreendedorismo e para o mercado, afetam significativamente o desempenho das empresas sociais. Os resultados também indicam que a orientação para o mercado medeia o efeito da orientação empreendedora no desempenho das empresas sociais.Programa Doutoral em Marketing e Estratégi

Investigating the influence of performance measurement on learning, entrepreneurial orientation and performance in turbulent markets

Purpose: This study aims to examine how comprehensive performance measurement systems (CPMS) influence entrepreneurial orientation, market-focussed learning (MFL) and employees’ perceptions of firm performance within a service-provision context. It also considers the moderating effect of low and high levels of perceived market-turbulence (low-turbulence environments [LMT] vs highly turbulent environments [HMT]) on the relationships between these concepts.Design/methodology/approach: PLS-SEM was used to test the hypothesised relationships using survey responses from 198 employees of a leading multi-branch travel agency in Iran.Findings: The findings demonstrate that CPMS positively influence MFL and, in doing so, have a positive effect on perceptions of firm performance. However, the findings also suggest that CPMS negatively influence entrepreneurial orientation, and therefore can also negatively influence perceptions of firm performance. Further, the relationships between CPMS, entrepreneurial orientation, MFL and firm performance are stronger for HMT when compared to LMT for all relationships.Practical implications: Industry managers should adapt their CPMS to include measures specific to intra-organisational entrepreneurship and innovation and should pursue greater understanding of changing customer preferences.Originality/value: This study highlights the importance of MFL as a means of avoiding the negative impact of underdeveloped market research on performance in the turbulent Iranian context. Contrary to previous literature, it provides an example of how CPMS can negatively influence entrepreneurial orientation in such environments.</p

Investigation of Entrepreneurial Marketing Practices in Social Enterprises in the Context of Bangladesh

Despite the strong integration between marketing and entrepreneurship in practice and increasing attention towards social entrepreneurship (SE), marketing scholarsclaim that the current SE conceptualisation has yet satisfactorily offered a comprehensive framework for research, policy and practice adjoining its marketing phenomenon. This study thus employs entrepreneurial marketing (EM) as a theoretical framework to analyse and develop an insight into the practices used by social enterprises. As social enterprises typically seek betterment of social, environmental, and community-based initiatives and gain, the EM strategy often fits well for this venture as more unconventional means of marketing are usually required for such enterprises. In particular, this research investigates how social enterprises apply EM in Bangladesh, an emerging economy. In Bangladesh, Social Enterprises (SE) have experienced many challenges, including achieving long-term growth and remaining in business due to their unsustainable business models and lack of competitiveness in a highly competitive global market. A qualitative case study has been in this thesis adopts approach to examine the EM strategy and its practices. Data was also gathered and analysed through secondary sources such as online observation by reviewing websites, Facebook, YouTube, and different reports from case study SEs. In line with the interpretive approach, this online observation and case study method allows the researcher to gain insight into EM practices that helps the development of a new framework. Further, data was collected from interviews with the entrepreneurs and respective managers from some selected case study SEs. The researcher used a combination of purposive and snowballing sampling to determine 14 participants (entrepreneurs and managers) from seven case study SEs for in-depth interviews. Data triangulation was conducted to ensure the authenticity of data and information through in-depth interviewing of an additional five social entrepreneurs from five different SEs. By examining EM within the context of the social entrepreneurship sector, this study investigates how SEs in an emerging economy apply EM strategy. In so doing, this research examines the elements essential to an EM framework when being applied to a SE context. Furthermore, it offers a clear explanation of the interactivity of the elements. The thesis contributes to the EM literature by proposing a new EM framework for SEs, responding to the scholarly inquiry of cross-disciplinary research. A key contribution of this thesis lies in the integration of the social value creation element, an important aspect discussed in Shaw (2004) and Santos (2012), into the new EM framework and expanding this concept by introducing the empowerment dimension. In addition to the theoretical contributions, the research also offers managerial implications and suggestions for future studie

Entrepreneurial orientation, organizational learning capability and performance in the ceramic tiles industry

La orientación emprendedora es susceptible de tener un impacto positivo sobre el desempeño de la empresa. Sin embargo, empíricamente esta relación directa no es completamente consistente. Proponemos el desempeño innovador como una variable intermedia y, además, argumentamos que la relación entre orientación emprendedora y desempeño innovador no es incondicional, sino dependiente de la capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo. Utilizamos modelos de ecuaciones estructurales para contrastar nuestras hipótesis sobre la industria cerámica italiana y española. Los resultados sugieren que (1) el desempeño innovador actúa como una variable mediadora entre la orientación emprendedora y el desempeño de la empresa; (2) la orientación emprendedora puede ser considerada como un antecedente de la capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo; y (3) la capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo juega un papel importante en la determinación de los efectos de la orientación emprendedora sobre el desempeño. Finalmente, señalamos las limitaciones del estudio y proponemos futuras líneas de investigación. Entrepreneurial orientation is considered to have a positive impact on firm performance. However, this direct relationship does not seem to be empirically conclusive. In our research we consider innovation performance as an intermediate variable, and explain that the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and innovation performance is not unconditional, but subject to organizational learning capability. Structural equation modeling has been used to test our research hypotheses on a data set from the Italian and Spanish ceramic tile industry. Results suggest that (1) innovation performance acts as a mediating variable between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance; (2) entrepreneurial orientation can be considered as an antecedent of organizational learning capability; and (3) organizational learning capability plays a significant role in determining the effects of entrepreneurial orientation on innovation performance. Finally, we highlight our study¿s limitations and we posit avenues for future research.Entrepreneurial orientation, organizational learning capability, performance. Orientación emprendedora, capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo, desempeño.