Inhibition and encouragement of entrepreneurial behavior: Antecedents analysis from managers' perspectives

Abstract

One of the paths chosen by businesses to increase their competitiveness through innovation is by encouraging employees to adopt a more entrepreneurial attitude. Although studies on Entrepreneurial Orientation have brought important contributions, anecdotal evidences of entrepreneurial employees not affected by corporate initiatives drive attention to managers' roles in developing entrepreneurial behavior. We found good possible explanations in the theory Induced vs. Autonomous Entrepreneurial Behavior. Thus, the objective of this study is to empirically analyze the factors that inhibit or encourage entrepreneurial behavior. These factors arose from empirical research and were consolidated based on a literature review. This is a qualitative study whose data were collected in interviews carried out with 15 executives from different businesses in Brazil. The results showed that, while some Entrepreneurially Oriented practices can induce employees to adopt entrepreneurial behavior, autonomous behavior intrapreneurs are mostly stimulated by manager attitude. Managers use different approaches depending on the type of intrapreneur whose entrepreneurial behavior is intended to be stimulated, leading to the conclusion that managers, in some cases, play an important role in promoting Corporate Entrepreneurship.