Public sector entrepreneurial orientation in South Africa: a focus on organisational boundaries, strategy and resources

Abstract

Recognising the gap in the literature on public sector entrepreneurship in emerging markets, hypotheses are formulated to explain the influence of specific organisational antecedents on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) at municipalities in South Africa. Correlational and regression analyses are used to test the hypotheses. Findings show that the organisational antecedents of organisational strategy, boundaries and resources explain a significant amount of variation in the EO dimensions of innovativeness, pro-activeness and risk taking. The findings provide a meaningful understanding of an important topic in entrepreneurship as they apply to the South African public sector context. The study adds to the literature by providing causal links between specific organisational antecedents and the EO dimensions. A systematic understanding of organisational antecedents and EO in the public sector context is important not only for academic purposes but also because the subject has salience for managers and policy makers.