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Johl, Satirenjit Kaur

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Corporate entrepreneurship and corporate governance : an empirical analysis

This thesis focuses on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate

entrepreneurship activities in firms. Existing research examines aspects of governance and

entrepreneurship without any consideration of the links that may exist between these two drivers.

This study seeks to address this gap.

Practicing corporate entrepreneurship has become an important element to competesuccessfully in

today's competitive environment. However, an over emphasis of entrepreneurship could also lead

towards negative implications such as high risk as the outcome is unknown and involves an element

of uncertainty which could have negative implications on the company.

On the other hand, organisations are also required to practice robust corporate governance in

order to enhance greater transparency and accountability. Although the benefits of corporate

governance are well acknowledge, there is the potential for a tension to arise between these two

corporate imperatives; an organisation is required to practise governance and control whilst

simultaneously engaging in entrepreneurial activities. It is argued that by placing emphasis on

control and accountability, an organisation's entrepreneurial activities may be curbed. It is in this

context that the relationship of corporate governance and entrepreneurship is examined.

A mixed method approach (pragmatic) was employed for testing propositions, triangulating and

elaborating upon the research findings. Two qualitative studies were undertaken to ascertain the

nature of corporate entrepreneurship and corporate governance, as they are generally perceived.

This, along with other evidence, enabled the development of a corporate entrepreneurship index

and a corporate governance index. A quantitative analysis was then undertaken, based on the FTSE

100 companies to ascertain the nature ofany relationship between the two indices. Qualitative case

studies were then used through an interview process to gain a deeper understanding of the issues

involved.

Certain aspects of corporate governance control mechanisms such as board size, frequency of

board and sub-committee meetings were found to impact negatively on entrepreneurial activities

whilst others, such as dominance of institutional block holders had a positive impact. Also, it was

found linking annual bonuses to performance criteria exerts a positive effect on entrepreneurship.

These findings indicate that whilst certain aspects of governance may have negative implications

for entrepreneurship, others may impact positively. In addition, there are practices that an

organisation could implement thatmaypositively stimulate entrepreneurial activity and thus serve

to reduce the negative effects ofgovernance

Johl , Satirenjit Kaur

UTPedia

English