Entrepreneurship inside and out: Three essays exploring the interplay between hybrid entrepreneurs and their organizational employee roles

Abstract

A growing body of research focuses on undertaking new venture creation while remaining employed in existing organizations. Known as hybrid/part-time entrepreneurship, scholars suggest most entrepreneurs engage in entrepreneurship in a part-time capacity. As such, there exists an interesting space for the study of a new form of interrole dynamics: employee and entrepreneurial role interactions. Through three essays, I conceptually and empirically explore the effects of engaging in hybrid entrepreneurship on outcomes associated with employee and entrepreneurial roles. In Essay One I present a theoretical model of role enrichment from entrepreneurial to employee roles. Specifically, I propose that individuals engaged in entrepreneurship in a part-time capacity develop a unique skillset through entrepreneurial learning which can be effectively applied to tasks in employee roles in the form of recognizing and exploiting opportunities for innovation. In Essay Two, I empirically test these role enrichment hypotheses using a primary data sample of 1,245 employees; many of whom are engaged in part-time entrepreneurship. Results confirm that people engaged in running side businesses exhibit greater innovative behavior at work, especially in work groups that foster climates conducive for innovation and for individuals with goal orientations toward learning. In Essay Three, I examine the potentially negative effects of hybrid entrepreneurship on outcomes in both employee and entrepreneurial roles and test the existence of “work-venture” conflict through a sample of 34 entrepreneurs surveyed over several weeks. Results confirm negative impacts from conflict to satisfaction in employee roles and bricolage behaviors in entrepreneurial roles, and a positive impact on intentions to leave employee roles

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