Foster Corporate Entrepreneurship Research Articles

Do faculty members matter in corporate entrepreneurship in Kuwaiti higher education institutions?

PurposeThe adoption of an entrepreneurial posture supports higher education institutions (HEIs) in their quest for growth. The present study examines the role faculty members play in adopting an entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in HEIs within the Kuwaiti academic context and aims to assess whether this orientation contributes to fostering corporate entrepreneurship in their institutions.Design/methodology/approachPrimary data were collected to study the relationship between faculty EO and the EO of their respective HEI. Empirical research was conducted based on a questionnaire completed by 341 engineering and business faculty members employed at Kuwaiti universities and colleges. The research model was tested and validated using structural equation modelling (SEM).FindingsThe results show a positive relationship between the faculty EO and corporate entrepreneurship in HEIs, which was negatively moderated by human resource management (HRM) practices. These findings emphasise the need for HEIs in Kuwait to evolve their HRM practices towards enhancing innovation, proactiveness and risk-taking amongst faculty.Originality/valueThis study highlights the strategic renewal perspective in HEI-EO and how faculty initiatives can support it.

Tapping into Digital Technologies in Corporate Entrepreneurship: an Exploratory Multiple Case Study

Digital technologies can enable entrepreneurial processes and outcomes. However, current implications for scholars and practitioners on how to exploit the emerging digital technologies for entrepreneurship in the corporate context, i.e., corporate entrepreneurship, remain unclear. This issue is even more relevant today where the growing pervasiveness of digital technologies finds increasing applicability in corporate entrepreneurship activities. This present study contributes to the academic debate on corporate entrepreneurship in the digital era by offering an exploratory multiple case study – based on semi-structured interviews – that involved four incumbent organizations to deepen the knowledge of the role played by digital technologies in corporate entrepreneurship. We provide empirical evidence on how incumbents can exploit the enabling role of digital technologies to foster corporate entrepreneurship activities. Specifically, we document three enabling mechanisms of digital technologies in corporate entrepreneurship: (i) increasing the number and heterogeneity of inputs for corporate entrepreneurship activities; (ii) increasing the visibility of actors and resources involved in corporate entrepreneurship activities; (iii) accelerating innovation adoption rate in incumbent organizations. The outcome of this study is a framework that discusses the managerial actions required to support incumbents in making corporate entrepreneurship more prolific through digital technologies. In doing so, this study contributes to research on corporate entrepreneurship in the digital era. Results are of interest also to managers and practitioners, providing them practical insights to exploit the enabling role of digital technologies for corporate entrepreneurship activities.

Entrepreneurial growth in digital business ecosystems: an integrated framework blending the knowledge-based view of the firm and business ecosystems

Digitalisation is shaping the contemporary technological context of entrepreneurial activities, where firms grow through interacting with digital ecosystem stakeholders. This study investigates how incumbent firms seek entrepreneurial growth by re-configurating their knowledge bases in digital business ecosystems. We propose and develop a conceptual framework that blends the digital business ecosystem perspective and the knowledge-based view of the firm. Through a longitudinal case study of a Chinese textile manufacturing firm, we identify three pathways for entrepreneurial growth. The results contribute to the entrepreneurship literature by demonstrating how digital technologies foster corporate entrepreneurship in incumbent firms. The proposed framework extends the analytical power of the knowledge-based view by incorporating ecosystem elements into the firm’s internal and external knowledge management. The findings also generate relevant and actionable managerial implications for entrepreneurs, managers, and policymakers that are applicable in the context of digital business ecosystems.

Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship in SMEs: Evidence from India

There is fair consensus regarding the importance of creating a supportive internal environment within organizations to encourage entrepreneurial mindsets and behavior. The majority of extant studies have involved large-sized organizations in the Western context. This study aims to extend the understanding of well-established antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the Indian context, propose a new variable, and test its influence on CE. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to a sample of 185 respondents belonging to various managerial levels across different Indian SMEs. The results show a positive and significant relationship between management support, rewards and recognition and organizational values for fostering CE in Indian SMEs. SMEs play a significant role in socio-economic development, and this study can help understand how the benefits of CE can be leveraged to increase SMEs’ innovativeness and competitive advantage.

Do Individual Factors Affect the Relationship between Faculty Intrapreneurship and the Entrepreneurial Orientation of Their Organizations?

Several colleges and universities in the Middle East have been undertaking significant initiatives to forge and foster corporate entrepreneurship. The viability and success of those initiatives rest upon the input of faculty, possessing to various degrees an entrepreneurial orientation that revolves around innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactivity. This study investigates the extent to which individual-level factors moderate the influence of faculty entrepreneurial behavior on the entrepreneurial orientation of higher education institutions in Kuwait. These factors include gender, academic qualifications, teaching experience, school affiliation, scientific productivity, industrial experience, and professional certification. Data were collected using questionnaires filled by 291 faculty members, and the model was analyzed using structural equation modelling. The differences for each faculty characteristic in the structural path coefficients were tested using the Z-score statistics. The eight hypotheses that were partially validated as the most notable findings indicate that entrepreneurial orientation among male or business faculty has a greater impact on their institutions’ organizational, entrepreneurial orientation. In contrast, the differences for the rest of the moderating characteristics were insignificant. The originality of this study pertains to the fact that the scope of faculty intrapreneurship does not seem to be strongly affected by any individual-level characteristic.

Nurture or nature? How organizational and individual factors drive corporate entrepreneurial projects

Corporate entrepreneurship has become a fundamental strategy for securing firms’ survival in rapidly changing environments. Despite broad theoretical consensus on the role of organizational drivers (top management support, rewards, work discretion, time availability) for employee engagement in corporate entrepreneurship, empirical studies provided ambiguous results, which might derive from not accounting for individual factors. Based on person-organization fit theory, this study analyses the interplay of organizational drivers and individual-level intrapreneurial orientation on (a) employee willingness to participate and (b) their willingness to lead corporate entrepreneurial projects. Our experimental study demonstrates that organizational drivers foster the willingness to participate in such projects, especially when individuals exhibit a strong intrapreneurial orientation. Regarding the willingness to lead corporate entrepreneurial projects, intrapreneurial orientation is the central factor, while organizational drivers are less effective. In short, our findings support that individual intrapreneurial orientation (nature), and not organizational drivers (nurture) alone, are key to fostering corporate entrepreneurship.

Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship with the use of social media tools

The strategic use of Social Media can leverage innovation, relationships with customers, and the entrepreneurial orientation of the firm, as it provides useful knowledge to find new opportunities for innovation. Despite the relevance of this phenomenon to current hyper-competitive environments, empirical research on the topic remains scarce. To advance knowledge of this issue, the main purpose of the paper is to examine how Social Media use impacts the different dimensions of Corporate Entrepreneurship. Building on a sample of 201 technological firms, findings confirm that the use of Social Media tools impacted all dimensions of Corporate Entrepreneurship and enhanced firm performance. This paper contributes to the literature by empirically confirming how Social Media use helps to create business value. The study results also have important implications for managers, as they show the pathway managers must follow to harness the benefits of Social Media use to become more entrepreneurial.

Focusing on internal stakeholders to enable the implementation of organizational change towards corporate entrepreneurship: A case study from France

Although previous studies have highlighted the importance of implementing corporate entrepreneurship to foster innovation within organizations, little emphasis has been placed on examining the concept from a change management perspective. In an attempt to bridge this gap, the current study aims at understanding the mechanisms and tools that top managers can use in order to involve internal stakeholders in driving a change process to adopt a corporate entrepreneurship strategy. The paper discusses the findings that emerged from an exploratory study carried out within “Poult”, a French biscuit manufacturer, which has embarked on an organization-wide effort to instil a culture of corporate entrepreneurship. The findings are examined in the context of stakeholder theory and Kotter's (1996) change model with a focus on the importance of internal marketing strategy during the change process. The contribution of managerial and organizational mechanisms towards fostering corporate entrepreneurship are highlighted.

Corporate Entrepreneurship in Colombia: An Approach from Resources and Capabilities

AbstractCorporate entrepreneurship refers to entrepreneurship activities that take place within established firms. Such activities have attracted the interest of researchers in the area of management and business for several years now. The aim of this work is to examine the influence of individuals’ resources and capabilities on corporate entrepreneurship in Colombia, using data from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013 and including 3,394 observations. The study draws on the Resource-Based Theory and uses logistic regressions in its methodology, considering differences between resources (entrepreneurial skills and competencies, entrepreneurial experience, personal networks and education) and capabilities (entrepreneurial intention and opportunity identification). This work offers theoretical and empirical contributions. Theoretically, it contributes to the development of the literature in the field of corporate entrepreneurship in Latin American emerging markets. Empirically, it serves as a guide for those managers wishing to foster corporate entrepreneurship in their firms.

Mechanisms of Organizational Culture for Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

Organizational culture ranks among the highly relevant factors for fostering corporate entrepreneurship and has attracted increasing research interest in recent years. Despite a growing body of scholarly work, to date there is limited understanding of which specific cultural mechanisms create an organizational environment where entrepreneurial activities flourish. The current state of knowledge is characterized by diverse, and partly conflicting, theoretical predictions and empirical findings. Furthermore, the complex and contested nature of organizational culture makes it difficult to derive useful propositions for managerial actions that will serve practitioners and theorists alike. To address these issues and encourage future work, this study uses a systematic review and develops an analytical framework, thereby considering eight general dimensions of organizational culture across different levels. As the theorization on these dimensions is unsuited to addressing practical realities, this article is built upon a realist account so as to shed light on the specific mechanisms through which the general cultural dimensions operate. This approach allows for more a fine-grained understanding of how organizational culture fosters corporate entrepreneurship and enables future research avenues to be identified.

An agency perspective on the board of directors and corporate entrepreneurship

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between board dependence, antitakeover provisions and their influence on corporate entrepreneurship (CE).Design/methodology/approachThe study uses agency theory as a framework to expand on the board dependence–CE relationship by injecting the moderating role of antitakeover provisions to the model. Using data collected from 350 publicly traded firms, a panel regression analyses was conducted on both innovation and venturing components of CE.FindingsThe findings of this study show a negative relationship between board dependence and CE. Further this study shows that such a negative relationship becomes weaker when higher levels of antitakeover provisions are injected into the model.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was conducted using a sample of large publicly traded firms within the information and manufacturing sectors, and so our findings may not be generalizable to firms in other contexts. Further, other variables representing CE (e.g. new product introductions) may add to this line of research in the future.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the role of board of directors within a firm may help foster CE throughout the organization.Originality/valueThis study expands on existing research by incorporating the influence of environmental factors (e.g. antitakeover provisions) and examining the relationship between corporate governance and CE using both measures of innovation and venturing.

CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICA: THE ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL ALERTNESS IN ADVANCING INNOVATIVENESS

The scope of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) is broadening as firms embrace CE to survive and succeed in dynamic, uncertain markets. Although scholars have focused on the organizational factors necessary to foster CE, it is important to understand not just what the organizational context must look like, but also to understand how entrepreneurial alertness may facilitate CE activity. Contrary to most studies on CE, this study takes place in a non-Western context, where a survey is used to collect data from 784 respondents at South African firms. Results reveal it is the organizational antecedents of reward and reinforcement, time and resource availability, and flexible organizational boundaries that positively influence CE innovativeness. Additionally, when entrepreneurial alertness is added into the equation, the amount of variance explained in CE innovativeness is increased substantially. These findings highlight the relevance of focusing on firm-based entrepreneurial behavior as opposed to only independent startups in an Africa context.

Analysis of the influence of the environment, stakeholder integration capability, absorptive capacity, and technological skills on organizational performance through corporate entrepreneurship

This research seeks to analyze how factors such as the environment, stakeholder integration capability, absorptive capacity, and technological skills influence corporate entrepreneurship, and the repercussions of corporate entrepreneurship for the organization’s results. The hypotheses are tested empirically using a sample of 160 European technology firms. A positive relationship is found between the factors of the environment and stakeholder integration capability, and corporate entrepreneurship. The uncertainty and complexity of the environment in which the organization operates and its relationship with stakeholders require the firm to be involved in constant updating, collaboration between parties, and innovation of processes, products, and system to maintain competitive advantage. Further, the capacity to absorb new knowledge and develop technological skills can generate new, advanced technological processes. These processes foster corporate entrepreneurship to detect opportunities on the market and transform them into additional advantage over competitors. Corporate entrepreneurship increases organizational performance, as it entrusts entrepreneurs with the task of utilizing potentially value-creating resources more effectively than competitors.

From professionals to entrepreneurs: Human Resources practices as an enabler for fostering corporate entrepreneurship in professional service firms

Professional Service Firms (PSFs) such as accounting, consulting, law, engineering or advertising firms increasingly face changing attitudes and fluctuation among young people with high potential who question traditional career and human resource (HR) concepts. In this context, it seems vital to foster a spirit of corporate entrepreneurship in PSFs to create an attractive environment that satisfies the autonomy-striving professionals. Our research is based on a multiple case study design that investigates how corporate entrepreneurship in the fields of elite accounting/consulting and law firms can be enabled by HR practices. Specifically, we analyse how contemporary PSFs manage to identify, select, build, reward, retain and let go of entrepreneurial professionals. Our findings imply that there are still challenges to overcome in the identification, selection and reward practices, while promising approaches for training and retention exist in order for entrepreneurial behaviour to prosper. Based on these findings, we present HR-related recommendations for fostering corporate entrepreneurship in PSFs and highlight some promising avenues for future research.

How to Foster Corporate Entrepreneurship in Multidivisional Firms?

Integrating theories of transformational leadership and corporate entrepreneurship, we developed and tested a multilevel model of transformational leadership congruence (among CEOs and divisional managers) mediating the relationship between firm- and division-level corporate entrepreneurship. Analyses of multisource data from 102 senior managers, 357 division managers, and 671 employees across 51 multidivisional Taiwanese electronics firms indicated that the transformational leadership congruence partially mediates the relationship between firm-level corporate entrepreneurship and division-level corporate entrepreneurship. Further, high-performance work system and division-level collective efficacy positively moderate the relationship between transformational leadership congruence and division-level corporate entrepreneurship. Finally, transformational leadership congruence positively influences division-level performance through division-level corporate entrepreneurship. Taken together, we demonstrate that transformational leadership congruence between a CEO and division-level managers has important implications for determining the percolation of corporate entrepreneurship to divisions in a firm and division performance.

An analysis of an organisational strategy, structure and culture that supports corporate entrepreneurship in established organisations

The environment in which a business operates is not static. Intensifying global competition and rapid technological progress put presure on business to change. Better quality and service and lower costs are no longer enough to give a competitive advantage. Adaptability, flexibility, speed, aggressiveness and innovativeness are increasingly necessary. This can be achieved by entrepreneurial organisations. Through corporate entrepreneurship, big business can improve its profitability and competitive standing. This research aims to determine the characteristics of organisational strategy, structure and culture that foster corporate entrepreneurship in large and established companies. These characteristics were applied to an established organisation to evaluate to what extent its strategy, culture and structure would support entrepreneurial activities and initiatives. Data were collected through self-completion questionnaires and analysed by calculating Cronbach alpha values, t-test and ANOVA.

An exploratory research on the factors stimulating corporate entrepreneurship in the Greek public sector

PurposePractice demonstrates and research validates that entrepreneurship is moving from the individual to the organization and from the private sector to the social and not‐for‐profit sectors. The present study endeavors to complement the emerging public entrepreneurship literature by aiming to identify which of those factors that stimulate corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector are preferred by entrepreneurial civil servants.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire was completed by a random sample (n=247) of public servants across 15 Greek prefectures. Results are based on Bayesian factor analysis, conjoint analysis and cluster analysis.FindingsResults provide preliminary evidence about entrepreneurial civil servants' preferences and make available a well‐documented framework for addressing corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector.Research limitations/implicationsThe reported research relied on self‐reporting. In addition, because the sample consisted entirely of public servants across Greek prefectures, findings may not be applicable to other public sector contexts (such as hospitals) and other countries. Data are cross‐sectional and alternative relationships may exist. Future research should be multinational and longitudinal to test the assumptions of the present study.Practical implicationsThe results of the study are useful both to academics and policy makers interested in formulating a strategy that fosters corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector.Originality/valueDuring the last 15 years, considerable effort has been devoted to developing more effective, more efficient, and more flexible public organizations. Using qualitative methods, the results of the present exploratory research identify which factors that foster corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector are preferred by entrepreneurial public servants.

Strategies for fostering corporate entrepreneurship

This paper targets at analyzing and characterizing corporate strategies practiced at Brasilata – Metallic Packing S/A, one of the most innovative and world-wide awarded Brazilian enterprises, to stimulate corporate entrepreneurship. This research used the case study research method. Data were collected from interviews with corporate executives, from studying internal reports and documents, observing processes, norms and specific procedures. Main results show that due to corporate entrepreneurship, Brasilata improved its productivity to 81%. Some 46,000 new ideas have been examined and also 6 patents were granted, which account for 75% of the enterprise annual revenues. Evidences show therefore, that corporate entrepreneurship’s strategies are effective at Brasilata and do create corporate resilience and improve performance bolstering business sustainability.

Corporate entrepreneurship: Current research and future directions

In this paper, we suggest future research on the processes and knowledge-based resources in corporate entrepreneurship (CE), argue for the need to appreciate the heterogeneity of CE in relation to new contexts, and suggest appropriate strategies for such contexts. First, we highlight the key contributions of the papers in this special issue, with a particular focus on how they provide insights into structural and process contingencies, the role of management at multiple levels, and organizational and managerial capabilities. We then discuss the limits to the applicability of theories developed in other contexts to CE. Finally, we suggest some future research, with particular emphasis on the corporate governance mechanisms that foster CE and the requisite managerial roles and skills in instigating and supporting entrepreneurial activities at different levels of the organization.

Fostering corporate entrepreneurship through internal marketing

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to look at how internal marketing can be coupled with corporate entrepreneurship. The paper then suggests explicit practices that enhance potential for innovation at the organizational level.Design/methodology/approachThe article presents the results of a survey based on a random sample of 223 public servants working at regional Greek governmental organizations (prefectures). It makes use of full profile conjoint analysis and cluster analysis using an appropriate survey instrument. Drawing from earlier research, different attributes that foster corporate entrepreneurship and their corresponding levels were used to form specific scenarios. The applied methodology captures and formalizes scenario preference by the public servants who participated in the survey.FindingsThe results indicated four distinct clusters of respondents, whose classification formed a pattern, which is consistent with Rogers' model of diffusion of technological innovations.Research limitations/implicationsResearch relied on a sample of public servants from the Greek public sector and data is cross‐sectional in nature. Future research should be multinational and longitudinal to test the results and assumptions reported herein.Originality/valueThe findings of this paper are original and unique and provide a well‐documented framework in addressing corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector. Furthermore, the results of the study are useful to policy makers interested in formulating a strategy that fosters corporate entrepreneurship in the public sector setting.