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Roe, Sarah A. (2019) Occupational therapy graduates' perceptions and experiences of intrapreneurship in contrasting healthcare practice contexts. EdD thesis, University of Nottingham.

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Abstract

Recent UK Government rhetoric is calling for healthcare professionals to practice entrepreneurially whilst they are simultaneously being bombarded with restrictive protocols and prescriptive regimens. There is little agreement concerning what entrepreneurship is and the term ‘intrapreneurship’ has recently entered the literature field denoting the innovative and creative practices within an organisation. There is little usable inquiry into this important field, with the healthcare practice context severely lagging behind the wider entrepreneurship debates. This has created a highly pressured and confusing landscape for new occupational therapy graduates to negotiate.

This study details a qualitative exploration into recent occupational therapy graduates’ perceptions and experiences of intrapreneurship within two contrasting healthcare practice contexts. The critical realist theorist, Margaret Archer, and her concepts of morphogenesis, the internal conversation and preferred reflexive modes (1982, 2003, 2007), were used as the study framework to explore micro-level structure / agency interactions. Semi-structured interviews, incorporating the completion of life-grids, were carried out with nine participants stratified into two context groups: five located in the statutory healthcare context and four located in the non-statutory. Analysis of the life-grid data alongside elements of the interview data enabled allocation of participants into their preferred reflexive mode of operating their internal conversation. The remaining interview data was subsequently analysed generating emerging themes.

The key research findings were: Margaret Archer’s internal conversation and preferred reflexive modes are valuable tools for examining micro-level interactions between occupational therapy graduate agency and the structures they encounter; occupational therapy graduates’ reflexive preferences strongly influence their choice of work location and perceptions and experiences of intrapreneurship; personal and professional relationships are highly prized and prioritised above intrapreneurship by statutory located occupational therapy graduates; the statutory healthcare context is profoundly structuring for occupational therapy graduate intrapreneurship; there are abundant and large scale intrapreneurship opportunities in the non-statutory healthcare context; there are substantial costs and downsides to intrapreneurship that are evaluated differently by occupational therapy graduates depending on their reflexive preferences.

This study contributes fresh insights that inform the development of a relevant occupational therapy curriculum and an entrepreneurially conducive practice environment. It also raises awareness of higher education and healthcare policy makers, which will contribute to improved outcomes for fledgling occupational therapy graduates and healthcare service users.

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (EdD)
Supervisors:	McLean, Monica McGrath, Simon
Keywords:	occupational therapy, intrapreneurship, entrepreneurship
Subjects:	R Medicine > RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology
Faculties/Schools:	UK Campuses > Faculty of Social Sciences, Law and Education > School of Education
Item ID:	57033
Depositing User:	Roe, Sarah
Date Deposited:	21 Apr 2020 13:06
Last Modified:	06 May 2020 08:33
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/57033

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