Examining the relationship between team-level entrepreneurial orientation and team performance

Anna Wójcik-Karpacz,Sascha Kraus,Jarosław Karpacz

doi:10.1108/ijebr-05-2021-0388

Abstract

PurposeThis article investigates (in)direct relationships between team-level entrepreneurial orientation and team performance, where team entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is measured as a team-level construct, not as concentration of team members' scores. In this article, the authors present and explore how EO-oriented behaviour within a team affect its performance, taking into account the team's trust in a manager and commitment to team and company goals.Design/methodology/approachThis article focuses on a quantitative analysis of 55 teams operating within a large high-tech manufacturing enterprise, gathered through a traditional survey. The conceptual framework for this research was based on the theories of organisational citizenship, extra-role behaviour and social exchange. The authors explain how contextual factors establish a framework which enables team EO transformation towards higher performance of teams.FindingsThe results show that (team) performance benefits from EO-related behaviours. However, individual dimensions of EO are not universally beneficial and need to be combined with a mutual trust and/or commitment to team enterprise's goals to achieve high performance.Originality/valueThe findings provide important insight into which team factors may be targeted at the intervention or support of team members, including managers and immediate superiors who lack an active personality and are not willing to take risks at workplace. The authors adopted EO instruments, mutual trust and commitment from an individual scale to a team one, and also offer new opportunities to analyse such phenomena from a new level and evaluate them from the perspective of team managers.

Highlights

IntroductionGiven current trends in organisations towards more decentralised and team-based structures (Alsharo et al, 2017; Wombacher and Felfe, 2017), where teams are the most popular forms of work (Lin et al, 2019; Liu et al, 2020), little attention has been paid to entrepreneurship in the context of teams (Boone et al, 2020; Hughes et al, 2018; Wales et al, 2021; Zhang et al, 2020) and moderators’ interactions at team levels (Covin et al, 2020; Li et al, 2018), and that is why, more research is necessary
It is crucial that both theorists and practitioners understand the ways in which context influences employee entrepreneurial behaviours (Mustafa et al, 2018). These findings suggest that the relationship between team entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and Team performance (TP) may vary depending on some moderators, such as team commitment (TC) and/or mutual trust (MT) between the team manager and the employee
Based on the statistical results, we argue that team entrepreneurial orientation (team EO) is an important predictor of TP

Summary

Introduction

Given current trends in organisations towards more decentralised and team-based structures (Alsharo et al, 2017; Wombacher and Felfe, 2017), where teams are the most popular forms of work (Lin et al, 2019; Liu et al, 2020), little attention has been paid to entrepreneurship in the context of teams (Boone et al, 2020; Hughes et al, 2018; Wales et al, 2021; Zhang et al, 2020) and moderators’ interactions at team levels (Covin et al, 2020; Li et al, 2018), and that is why, more research is necessary. Research on the team-level entrepreneurial orientation and team performance poses challenges. In this spirit, Ferreira et al (2021) assume that when examining the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance, recognising the multidimensional character of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct becomes essential. Recognising the multidimensional character of this construct is critical, and the complexity surrounding this argument involves additional research. It reveals the need for simultaneous search for various entrepreneurial types of behaviour. Such a lack of subjectmatter literature is a basis for examining the construct of EO as a multifaceted team attribute (Wales et al, 2020). Recognising the existing ways of manifesting EO-oriented behaviour may help to better understand entrepreneurship as a phenomenon studied more as such inside organisations, for example, in teams

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