Applying a Team-Level Perspective to Foster Entrepreneurial Behaviour in the Workplace

Yanagihashi, Takamitsu (2014) Applying a Team-Level Perspective to Foster Entrepreneurial Behaviour in the Workplace. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The entrepreneurial behaviour of employees provides a competitive advantage for organisations. However, the existing research for entrepreneurship has mostly focused on the interaction with the firm-level construct, or on the organisation-level antecedents for entrepreneurial behaviour. The current literature does not sufficiently explain how work team-level factors lead to development of entrepreneurial behaviours in individual team members. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature, by introducing a team-level perspective of entrepreneurship, and argues that the climate of a work team, specifically a high care climate, with trust, courage and empathy, can bring forth entrepreneurial behaviour in individuals. Based on the current academic literature, this study constructs and verifies a relationship model that examines knowledge sharing as an activity that is linked to self-managed work teams, and is shown to influence entrepreneurial behaviour. The hypotheses were constructed based on the literature and verified via mediated regression analysis using a sample of 191 employees from a global IT service provider business, which was gathered using an online questionnaire. This study contributes to existing literature on entrepreneurial behaviour, by introducing a team level perspective for understanding the drivers of entrepreneurial behaviour, and by examining knowledge sharing in the context of individual entrepreneurial behaviour. The results reveal that a work team’s climate relates to entrepreneurial behaviour, with knowledge transfer mediating the relationship. These results add to the existing literature on entrepreneurship, and provide practical implications for cultivating entrepreneurial behaviour in existing firms.

Item Type: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Depositing User: EP, Services
Date Deposited: 08 Jan 2014 06:26
Last Modified: 19 Oct 2017 13:46
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/27020

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