Entrepreneurial architecture: a framework to promote innovation in large firms

Abstract

In spite of the recognition that entrepreneurship and innovation are interlinked, very few studies have attempted to articulate this relationship. The aim of this article is to explain the nature of the relationship between entrepreneurship and innovation in large firms, arguing that entrepreneurship is an antecedent to innovation. The study employs a multidimensional entrepreneurial architecture (EA) framework for the first time and tests the effect of a battery of entrepreneurship measures on innovation output, which is reflected as degree and frequency of incremental and radical innovations. Adopting a quantitative approach, data were collected from 400 corporate firms in Oman representing various sectors of the economy. The EA dimensions reflected through entrepreneurial culture, entrepreneurial structure, entrepreneurial strategies and entrepreneurial leadership were tested through measurement and structural modelling. The results confirmed that entrepreneurship is a precursor to innovation. The EA framework, through its four dimensions, creates a collaborative and complimentary intensity that promotes innovation outputs, which may not be possible from the isolated effects of individual factors. The present study extends the extant literature, explaining how these entrepreneurship measures synergistically impact varying levels of innovation output. It has practical implications for managers in large firms involved in promoting innovation. They can transform the existing organisational architecture into an EA, by transplanting these entrepreneurship measures and creating a framework that promotes innovation.