Meaningful work in entrepreneurial teams: start-ups as places to find more meaningfulness

Abstract

Meaningful work is an important concept at both the individual and organisational levels. Researchers have studied how the concept manifests in established organisations and how it impacts the individual's performance. However, little is known about meaningful work in the context of emerging and dynamic organisations such as start-ups. In this study, we test whether individuals on a start-up team show a higher level of meaningful work than individuals in established organisations. Furthermore, we investigate whether meaningful work differences at the team level are related to the founding role. Our results show that meaningful work is more prevalent in entrepreneurial teams and that (co)founders experience a significantly higher of meaningful work than employees of entrepreneurial teams. This study opens up promising research opportunities to better understand the drivers, characteristics, and consequences of meaningful work in start-ups.