Entrepreneurial behaviour: a new perspective on the role of the HR professional
| Published date | 04 November 2019 |
| Date | 04 November 2019 |
| Pages | 1809-1829 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-03-2018-0087 |
| Author | Upamali Amarakoon,Jay Weerawardena,Martie-Louise Verreynne,Julian Teicher |
| Subject Matter | Hr & organizational behaviour,Global hrm |
Entrepreneurial behaviour:
a new perspective on the role
of the HR professional
Upamali Amarakoon
School of Business and Law, Central Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia
Jay Weerawardena and Martie-Louise Verreynne
School of Business, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and
Julian Teicher
School of Business and Law, Central Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise and validate a scale to capture entrepreneurship
behaviour at the human resource management (HRM) functional level.
Design/methodology/approach –Drawing from the HRM and entrepreneurship literature, this paper first
conceptualises and operationalises entrepreneurial behaviour at the human resource (HR) functional level.
Second, it uses a multi-phase, systematic scale development procedure to design a two-dimensional scale of
entrepreneurial HRM. Finally, the scale is validated by testing its relationship with HRM innovation.
Findings –The findings suggest that entrepreneurial behaviour at the HRM functional level is characterised
by innovativeness, pro-activeness, risk-taking and consensus-building behaviour. The scale shed new light on
the roles of HR professionals.
Research limitations/implications –This paper highlights the need for HR professionals to demonstrate
entrepreneurial behaviour in HRM value addition. The scale development process, while providing a detailed
understanding of the entrepreneurial behaviour at the HR functional level, will facilitate future research.
Practical implications –This scale provides HR professionals with the means to measure and improve
entrepreneurial HRM, leading to higher levels of HRM-based value addition.
Originality/value –This is the first known attempt to capture entrepreneurial behaviour at the HRM
functional level.
Keywords Mixed methodologies, Quantitative, Scale development, HRM innovation,
Entrepreneurial HRM, HR functional-level entrepreneurial behaviour
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Despite the increased pressure on human resource (HR) professionals to add value to
organisations (Deadrick and Gibson, 2007), the behaviours they are required to demonstrate
during the valueaddition process has receivedlimited scrutiny. HR professionalscollectively,
as a strategic function, add value to firmswhen their work assists top managementand other
stakeholders (e.g. employees, line managers, customers and investors) to attain a firm’s
strategic goals( John and Björkman, 2015;Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005). The strategichuman
resource management (HRM) literature that focuses on HRM value addition (e.g. Barney
and Wright, 1998; CIPD, 2 011, p. 2; Wolfe et al., 2006) suggests that HR professionals must
move beyond the conventional service delivery focus to be more insight-driven, if they are to
add greater value to their organisations. This requires HR professionals to be opportunity
seeking, forward-looking and innovative (Barney and Wright, 1998; CIPD, 2011), attributes
which are consistent with entrepreneurial behaviours (Covin and Slevin, 1991; Lumpkin and
Dess, 1996). However, no known attempt has been made to conceptualise and measure the
entrepreneurial behaviour of HRMprofessionals. Conceptualisation and measurement of such
behaviour of HR professionals is crucial in determining whether it actually contributes to
HR value addition.
Personnel Review
Vol. 48 No. 7, 2019
pp. 1809-1829
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-03-2018-0087
Received 13 March 2018
Revised 10 September 2018
21 December 2018
Accepted 4 April 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
1809
Entrepreneurial
behaviour
The literature on the entrepreneurial behaviours that precede the strategic activities
leading to firm value addition (e.g. capability development, innovation) has primarily
evolved in technical (i.e. product and process) contexts (Covin and Slevin, 1991; Damanpour
and Aravind, 2012; Hailey et al., 2005). It has, however, mostly overlooked the role of HR
professionals. The entrepreneurship literature claims that the entrepreneurial behaviour can
exist at individual, team, unit, firm, inter-organisational, industry or country levels (Luke
et al., 2007; Shane and Venkataraman, 2000; Wales, 2015; Wales et al., 2011). Highlighting
the likely heterogeneity of entrepreneurial beliefs and behaviours within organisations, the
literature calls for further research to understand the manifestation of entrepreneurship
across managerial and functional levels (e.g. Wales, 2015; Wales et al., 2011; Zahra, 1993).
However, the entrepreneurship research has primarily focused on entrepreneurship at
individual or firm/top management levels (Covin and Lumpkin, 2011). Limited scholarly
attempts to capture functional-level entrepreneurial behaviour (e.g. R&D function –Douglas
et al., 2010; Marketing –Jones and Rowley, 2011), and also has overlooked entrepreneurial
behaviour at the HR functional level.
This represents a notable gap in the literature. First, the social relationships
underpinning HR practices are inherently complex (Cooke and Saini, 2010) and notably
differ from the manufacturing context where the currently dominant behavioural model of
entrepreneurship (Covin and Slevin, 1991) has evolved. Second, aforementioned
complexities coupled with embedded causal ambiguity make HRM value addition unique
(Cooke and Saini, 2010; Fleetwood and Hesketh, 2008) and thus a sustainable source of firm
competitive advantage (Barney and Wright, 1998; Darwish et al., 2017; Wolfe et al., 2006).
Therefore, entrepreneurial behaviour at the HR functional level (referred to as
entrepreneurial HRM) and its role in HRM value addition is a promising area for
research and important for practice.
Accordingly, this paper aims to conceptualise and operationalise entrepreneurial HRM.
In this effort, the paper first draws from the HRM and entrepreneurship literature.
Considering the well-established link between entrepreneurship and innovation (Shane and
Venkataraman, 2000; Schumpeter, 1934) and HR innovation’s contribution to organisational
value addition (Amarakoon et al., 2018; Barney and Wright, 1998; Wolfe et al., 2006), the
paper primarily focuses on entrepreneurial behaviour demonstrated by HR professionals
who enact HRM innovations. HRM innovations are new HR practices/programs/systems
that are new and value adding to the adopting organisation (Amarakoon et al., 2018; Wolfe
et al., 2006). Second, we conducted qualitative interviews with nine senior HR professionals
to gain a deeper understanding of behaviours enacting HRM innovations. Based on the
qualitative findings, the initial conceptualisation of entrepreneurial HRM was modified to
capture the complexity and uniqueness of entrepreneurship in the HRM functional context.
Third, following DeVellis’s (2012) step-by-step scale development procedure, an
entrepreneurial HRM scale was operationalised and validated it with HRM innovation
using survey data from 268 Australian firms.
This paper contributes to the HRM literature in two ways. First, addressing need in the
strategic HRM literature the paper attempts to conceptualise and operationalise HR
entrepreneurship preceding HRM value additions. Second, the systematic, multi-method
procedure adopted in conceptualising and operationalising entrepreneurial HRM will
advance future research examining the role of HR entrepreneurship in strategic activities
leading to HR innovation and HR value addition. From practitioners’perspective, in addition
to highlighting the need to adopt an entrepreneurial posture at HR functional-level strategic
initiatives, our proposed scale enables HR professionals to measure entrepreneurial HRM
and improve their contribution in HRM value additions.
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows: first, key theoretical perspectives
related to the role of HR professionals in HR value addition are briefly highlighted.
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PR
48,7
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