The Relationship Between Employees' Entrepreneurial Orientation, Mutual Trust, Organisational Commitment and Workplace Performance: An Individual-Level Analysis

Anna Wójcik-Karpacz
Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce Żeromskiego St. 5 25-369 Kielce Poland VAT Number 657 02 34 850

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to identify the relationship between employees’ entrepreneurial orientation, mutual trust, organisational commitment and workplace performance for individuals. Work has investigated these relationships at the individual level of analysis. Design/methodology/approach – Research Design & Methods - The research is aimed at determining the role of EEO, MT and OC in explaining differences in individual workplace performance. The set of research proposals identifies (1) how employees’ entrepreneurial orientation and mutual trust/individual workplace performance related to each another, (2) whether the relationship between employees’ entrepreneurial orientation and individual workplace performance is mediated by mutual trust and organisational commitment and (3) how organisational commitment and individual workplace performance are related to each another? The conceptual framework for this research was a theory of the social exchange as well as the organizational citizenship and extra-role behaviour theories. The method used for carrying out empirical research was CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviews). Data were collected from 926 employees hired in two enterprises (478 employees in an IT sector enterprise and 448 employees in an electro-energy sector enterprise). The project was funded by The National Science Centre in Poland allocated based on a decision DEC-2014/15/B/HS4/04326. Findings – Structural Equation Modeling in the Mplus supported the expected relationships between employees ’entrepreneurial orientation and mutual trust/individual workplace performance, as well as between mutual trust and organisational commitment. Implications of these findings are discussed. Research limitations/implications – Implications/Recommendations - We do not establish how employee EO, and individual workplace performance, might accumulate and aggregate to the team level. Regarding future research directions, further research should be undertaken to analyse the relationship between employees’ entrepreneurial orientation and workplace performance at the individual employee and team levels in various industries across the country and longitudinally at different organisational levels. The results of the research allow for a better understanding of entrepreneurship and strengthen its theoretical foundations as an individual-level construct that determines individual workplace performance.


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