Abstract
Public entities play a crucial and distinctive role in providing essential services and driving socio-economic transformation. In developing countries such as South Africa, the pressure on these entities to deliver efficiently is particularly intense, given the urgency to improve citizens' living standards. However, public entities frequently confront persistent challenges and crises that undermine their ability to fulfil their developmental mandates. Emerging research suggests that intrapreneurship may serve as a strategic mechanism for these entities to address such crises and improve service delivery. Intrapreneurship recognises the potential of individual employees to initiate entrepreneurial activities, characterised by innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking, that lead to organisational renewal and improved performance. However, despite the pivotal role of employees in driving these behaviours, research on individual-level intrapreneurship within public entities, especially in crisis contexts, remains limited. Accordingly, this study aimed to determine the crisis-driven intrapreneurial behaviours demonstrated by employees within South African public entities.
This study conducted a systematic literature review to evaluate the current state of research on individual-level intrapreneurship. Insights derived from the review guided the development of the conceptual framework and the formulation of hypotheses, which were subsequently tested empirically. A mixed-methods approach was employed, consisting of two sequential phases: quantitative and qualitative. A case study design enabled an in-depth understanding of intrapreneurial behaviours and the contexts in which they emerge. In Phase 1, homogeneous sampling was used to select four public entities, followed by a census strategy to include all employees. A structured online questionnaire generated 235 valid responses from a population of 1,025 employees. In Phase 2, purposive sampling guided the selection of 12 participants for semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, reliability and factor analyses, correlations, regressions and ANOVA, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis.
The findings revealed that intrapreneurial behaviours, underpinned by innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking, are present among employees in public entities...