The influence of organization on corporate entrepreneurial behavior

The aim of the research is to investigate the factors influencing entrepreneurial behavior of individuals within a corporation. We define entrepreneurial behavior as “discovery, evaluation and exploitation of opportunities in order to create future goods and services”. Corporate entrepreneurial behavior, in its turn, is subject to a number of constraints and opportunities imposed by the organization. Our main hypothesis is that the strategic orientation of the company as reflected by core beliefs and behavioral patterns of top-management, should have a strong impact on employees’ entrepreneurial intentions. We map the theoretical field and discuss the potential methodology of analysis. Introduction The aim of the research is to investigate the factors influencing entrepreneurial behavior of individuals within a corporation. We define this behavior as “discovery, evaluation and exploitation of opportunities in order to create future goods and services” (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000). The process of corporate entrepreneurship (as opposed to independent start-up creation) is subject to a number of constraints imposed by the procedures and routines of an existing corporation. Our main hypothesis is that the strategic orientation of the company as reflected by core beliefs and behavioral patterns of top-management should have a strong impact on employees’ entrepreneurial intentions. These two concepts reflect behavioral aspects of entrepreneurship on the different levels of a company. According to Covin & Slevin (1991) it is behaviors that give meaning to the entrepreneurial process. Potential for the activity is a good prerequisite, which is unfortunately not sufficient if we want to consider a process seriously. We propose to analyze behavioral patterns of organizational and individual levels and namely – how the perception by employees of the level of entrepreneurship within the company influences their own intentions towards this behavior. As asserted in (Davidsson & Wiklund, 2001) such a mix-level approach to studying of entrepreneurship is rare to be seen among publications in the field. The paper is organized as follows. We first discuss relevant literature regarding corporate entrepreneurship and factors influencing it. In the following sections we elaborate the main framework for the analysis and discuss the measurement issues. Finally, we discuss our potential research hypotheses and methodology of the research project. 1. The concept of corporate entrepreneurship 1.1. Entrepreneurship Although the concept of entrepreneurship has been studied for decades already, it is however not that easy to define. There are different points of view, covering the whole spectrum of possible activities from a creation of a business to the exploitation of opportunities. “Perhaps the largest obstacle in creating a conceptual framework for the entrepreneurship field has been its definition” (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000).