Enhancing corporate entrepreneurship: an empirical test of Stevenson's conceptualisation of entrepreneurial management

Abstract

Although Stevenson's conceptualisation of opportunity-based entrepreneurial management is widely utilised and cited, less theoretical and empirical attention has been given to this framework in relation to corporate entrepreneurship (corporate entrepreneurial outputs), reflecting a firm's intensity of engagement in innovation in products and services, venturing activities and strategic renewal. We hypothesised the impact of the sub-dimensions of entrepreneurial management on corporate entrepreneurship. Our observation of 298 firms providing products and services to the mining industry of Australia and Iran indicates that the underlying dimensions differently affect corporate entrepreneurship. The results also provide useful insights into the boundary conditions of Stevenson's notion of opportunity-based management style.