Unleashing intrapreneurial behavior: Cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset to meet the increasing demand for intrapreneurship

Abstract

Purpose. This research endeavors to examine how entrepreneurial mindset functions on employees’ intrapreneurial behavior. Besides, we also examined the role of situational cues such as psychological safety and work engagement in stimulating entrepreneurial mindset in the organizational context. Methodology. The study adopted the College Entrepreneurial Mindset Scale, which operationalizes the entrepreneurial mindset comprising five dimensions: innovativeness, need for achievement, risk-taking, autonomy, and proactiveness. Incorporating work engagementand entrepreneurial mindset as mediating variables, a hypothetical model was established to link these variables to employees’ intrapreneurial behavior. A web-based questionnaire, authorized by departmental administrators working in SMEs in China, was disseminated to employees’ individual work accounts, wherein they completed and submitted the questionnaire for the purpose of our research inquiry. A total of 278 responses were gathered, 261 valid responses remained for subsequent analysis.The collected data were analyzed using both SPSS and Mplus, the hypotheses were tested, and the model was verified through structural equation modeling analysis. Findings. The results of this study indicatethat entrepreneurial mindset plays a significant role in fostering employees’ intrapreneurial behavior,which is widely considered to be a critical driver of organizational performance and productivity.Besides, this research found that autonomy as an essential facet of the entrepreneurial mindset does not contribute to intrapreneurs’ mindset. Furthermore, the study has pinpointed psychological safety and work engagement as the critical cues that evoke employees’ entrepreneurial mindset. Value of results.This research has valuable implications as it highlights the important role that entrepreneurial mindset plays in promoting employees’ intrapreneurial behavior. More importantly, our results also implicate the necessity of developing the concept of an “intrapreneurial mindset” within the realm of intrapreneurship research. We also identify situational cues for entrepreneurial mindset in the organizational context, adding a new perspective to the existing literature and managerial practices.