Explaining the entrepreneurial intentions of employees: The roles of societal norms, work-related creativity and personal resources

Abstract

This article addresses the important question of why those in paid employment might be hesitant to start their own businesses. In particular, we predict how diminished work-related creativity of employees might mediate the relationship between their perceptions that societal norms do not support initiative taking and their own entrepreneurial intentions. In addition, we consider how risk tolerance and passion for work might buffer this process. Survey data, collected among public-sector employees in the United Arabic Emirates, confirm these predictions with the exception of indications for a buffering role of passion for work. For entrepreneurship stakeholders, this research reveals a critical factor – a diminished propensity to generate new ideas at work – by which employee beliefs about limited normative support for enterprising efforts may escalate into a reluctance to consider an entrepreneurial career. It also identifies how this process can be muted when employees are willing to take risks.

Examining HRM Practices in Relation to the Retention and Commitment of Talented Employees

“…Through these information-sharing tasks, the junior talents are provided a good basis for their self-management, which is an important skill for their future career growth and leadership function. The results of other studies, as those made by Rice, Young, and Sharidan [59] or by Ng and Clercq [60], examined young talented employees in relation to their selfmanagement and the prevention of turnover, are in line with this view.…”

Perceived organizational politics, knowledge hiding and diminished promotability: how do harmony motives matter?

“…In line with the proposed conceptual model, the estimated models included the moderating effects of disintegration avoidance and harmony enhancement on the relationship between POP and knowledge hiding but not the relationship between knowledge hiding and promotability [3]. That is, we ran Process macro Model 7 separately for both harmony motives (Hayes, 2018), which is consistent with prior research that investigates multiple moderated mediation effects (Ng and De Clercq, 2021).…”

The influence of job satisfaction on entrepreneurial intention: A cross-level investigation

“…Individual dissatisfaction with employment facilitates entrepreneurial intention; however, not all dissatisfied employees are motivated to start their own businesses (Sheeran, 2002; Sniehotta et al, 2005). The decision to leave an unsatisfactory job and start one’s entrepreneurial venture is not easy or straightforward (Ng and De Clercq, 2021). Jobholders may carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of entrepreneurship (Georgellis and Yusuf, 2016) such as uncertainty and risk (Laffranchini et al, 2018).…”

“…Thus, societal uncertainty avoidance cannot be ignored when considering the impact of the social environment on entrepreneurial intentions. However, societal norms can also constrain or enable the enterprising efforts of individuals and might therefore, act as a boundary condition for the relationship between job dissatisfaction and entrepreneurial intentions (Ng and De Clercq, 2021). Societal entrepreneurial legitimacy, which reflects the acceptability of entrepreneurial activities within society, shapes the generation of entrepreneurial intentions and attitudes (Etzioni, 1987; Kibler et al, 2014).…”