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Impact of passive leadership on intrapreneurial behavior
A case study from the employee perspective
Sofie Bergman and Vanessa Williamsson
Stockholm Business School Bachelor’s degree thesis 15 HE credits Business Administration: Management Spring term 2020 Supervisor: Thomas Bay
II
Abstract
Utilizing individuals that are creative, risk taking and innovative could be the key to
organizational success in our rapidly changing world. It is argued by many that intrapreneurs
are the source of financial growth and profitability, an important source for organizations to
stay competitive in a dynamically evolving business landscape. Despite that, the field of
intrapreneurship is an overall under researched area where the point of view from the
intrapreneurs has been neglected, as well as how leadership affects these individuals. To
investigate more on the phenomena of intrapreneurship would contribute both to extent
research, as well as give practical advice to management leading intrapreneurs. Therefore, this
thesis intends to further extend the knowledge about how a destructive leadership could impact
intrapreneurial behavior with the research question: How does passive leadership impact
intrapreneurial behavior? In order to contribute with a discussion regarding this, a qualitative
case study has been conducted where the employee perspective has been central. The objective
of study is intrapreneurs from different organizations and positions. The data collected have
been analyzed with the guidance of a theoretical ground and then been discussed in relation to
the nature of passive leaders. The result from the study implies that intrapreneurial behavior is
negatively impacted by passive leadership but it was also evident that the problem is complex
and recommendations on further research have been presented. In conclusion, this research has
found interesting insights regarding the relation between passive leadership and intrapreneurial
behavior and has contributed to overlooked areas in the field of intrapreneurship as well as
leadership.
Keywords: Intrapreneurship, intrapreneurial behavior, passive leadership, incivility
III
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT II 1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 BACKGROUND 1 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTION 3 1.3 INTENDED CONTRIBUTION 4 1.4 OBJECT OF STUDY 4
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 6 2.1 INTRODUCTION 6 2.2 THE CONCEPT OF INTRAPRENEURSHIP 6 2.3 BENEFITS OF INTRAPRENEURSHIP 7 2.4 PREREQUISITES FOR INTRAPRENEURIAL BEHAVIOR 7 2.5 LEADERSHIP AND INTRAPRENEURS 9 2.6 PASSIVE LEADERSHIP 10 2.7 INCIVILITY 10 2.8 INCIVILITY AS AN EFFECT OF PASSIVE LEADERSHIP 11 2.9 TRUST ISSUES AS AN EFFECT OF PASSIVE LEADERSHIP 12 2.10 SUMMARY 12
3. RESEARCH DESIGN 14 3.1 RESEARCH QUESTION AND PURPOSE 14 3.2 RESEARCH STRATEGY 14 3.3 OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE RESEARCH QUESTION 16 3.4 CASE STUDY 16
3.4.1 Data collection 17 3.4.2 Sampling and sample size 17 3.4.3 Interview process 19
3.5 TRUSTWORTHINESS AND AUTHENTICITY 20 3.6 RESEARCH ETHICS 20
4. ANALYSIS 22 4.1 INTRODUCTION 22 4.2 METHOD OF ANALYSIS 22 4.3 ANALYSIS OF THE DATA 26
4.3.1 Intrapreneurial behavior 26 4.3.2 Enhances Intrapreneurial behavior 27
4.3.2.1 Leadership: attributes, support and relationship 28 4.3.2.2 Environment 32
4.3.3 Inhibits Intrapreneurial behavior 35 4.3.3.1 Leadership: attributes, lack of support, and relationship 35 4.3.3.2 Incivility 37
5. DISCUSSION 39 6. CONCLUSION AND FURTHER RESEARCH 42 7. CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND LIMITATIONS 44 8. REFERENCE LIST 45 9. APPENDICES 49
9.1. APPENDIX 1: INTERVIEW FORMALITIES 49 a) Study Information Sheet 49 b) Consent form 50 c) Interview guide 51
9.2. APPENDIX 2: TABLE FOR EXTRACTED QUOTES 52
1
1. Introduction
1.1 Background “The Macintosh team was what is commonly known now as intrapreneurship—only a few years
before the term was coined—a group of people going in essence back to the garage, but in a
large company." - Steve Jobs (Newsweek, 1985)
A sub-field of entrepreneurial research called intrapreneurship has been a popular topic within
management studies since the beginning of the 1980s. Gifford Pinchot III (1985) defined the
intrapreneurs as “the dreamers who do. Those who take hands-on responsibility for creating an
innovation of any kind within an organization” (p. ix). Easier described, an intrapreneur is an
entrepreneur within an existing organization (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2003). In contrast
entrepreneurs are people who develop new ventures outside an existing organization (Parker,
2011).
Intrapreneurs are nowadays highly sought after in many businesses, since they help
organizations to be on the front edge of innovation in their respective field. Successful
companies are the ones that have the ability to find, develop and retain intrapreneurs (Buekens,
2014). Zahra and Covin (1995) argue that intrapreneurship is also beneficial financially for the
organization and important for growth in the long term. Govindarajan and Desai (2013) argue
that:
“Intrapreneurs can transform an organization more quickly and effectively than others
because they are self-motivated freethinkers, masters at navigating around bureaucratic and
political inertia.”
One example of a management who failed to utilize intrapreneurship within the organization,
was when an engineer named Steven Sasson who worked at Kodak created the first ever digital
camera. Instead of taking this opportunity to be innovative the management instead told Steven
to keep the invention quiet as they saw it as a threat. Many years later Kodak filed for
bankruptcy for not being able to meet the digital era, among other things (Daykin, 2019). This
2
is just one example of why intrapreneurship has become such an important part of organizations
in recent years, especially with the fast paced digital world.
In regard to extant research of intrapreneurship Andersson and Pearson (1999) mention that
previous research has focused on the factors that can enhance intrapreneurship but overlooked
factors that can inhibit intrapreneurship. Furthermore, Yariv and Galit (2017) suggest that future
research should look at the viewpoint of the employee’s perspective when it comes to
intrapreneurial behavior, since earlier research has tended to focus on the management’s
perspective. As there are factors in the field of intrapreneurship that, up to date, have been
overlooked, the intention of this thesis is to further investigate the nature of intrapreneurial
behavior in order to extend the extant research.
1.2 Problematization
Intrapreneurial behavior is characterized by creativeness, proactiveness and the ability to create
new inventions and recognize opportunities (Neessen, Caniëls, Vos, & de Jong, 2019). In our
rapidly changing world with significant pressure on competitiveness with keeping up with new
demands and technological trends, intrapreneurship is said to be the answer (Covin & Slevin,
1991).
In order for intrapreneurial behavior to occur Yariv and Galit (2017) argue that organizational
support, including tolerance for risk and managerial support, is necessary. From a study they
conducted it was proven that the relation between organizational support and intrapreneurial
behavior is positively correlated. Marvel, Griffin, Hebda, and Vojak (2007) also address the
importance of receiving management support such as promoting and facilitating
intrapreneurship in order for employees to behave intrapreneurial. Marvel et al. (2007)
conducted a study where the general opinion expressed was that more interaction and
involvement from management is always better than less. Characteristics such as exploring new
opportunities and being innovative are dependent on the managers and the leadership within
the organization (Moriano, Molero, Topa, & Lévy Mangin, 2011).
The point of view from the individual intrapreneur has been neglected and several researchers
stress the need for conducting research with the individuals in focus (Yariv & Galit, 2017;
Neessen et al., 2019). Yariv and Galit (2017) also point out the lack in current research about
what impact the interrelation between the dark and bright sides of interactions may have on
3
intrapreneurial behavior. They suggest that by looking at leadership styles in relation to
intrapreneurs it could fill unexplored fields in the area. Furthermore, Andersson and Pearson
(1999) highlight that current research has focused on what enhances intrapreneurship and
factors that may inhibit them are often neglected. Therefore, it comes of relevance to look at
what effect a destructive leadership could have, where the intrapreneurs should be the focus of
the study. The type of leadership that enhances intrapreneurial behavior is brought up
extensively in the field of intrapreneurship research, Moriano et al. (2011) investigated how
different types of leadership relates to intrapreneurial behavior. They conducted a quantitative
study by sending out questionnaires to find out what type of leader the participants had and then
put it in relation to the participant´s level of intrapreneurial behavior. However, the study did
not go in depth with how the individuals were affected by the leadership and the overall focus
was on the type of leadership that enhances intrapreneurial behavior. The effects and
characteristics of passive leadership were not taken into consideration and would thus be of
interest to further investigate, and by doing so with a qualitative study it could reveal more in-
depth results (Merriam 2010).
Therefore, we have specifically looked at the type of destructive leadership called passive
leadership, which is when a leader does not act and acts only when a problem has already
emerged (DeRue, Nahrgang, Wellman, & Humphrey, 2011). The form of destructive leadership
we have investigated is passive leadership as it is under researched and stressed to be of
importance in order to broaden the research field in leadership (Holtz & Hu, 2017). Passive
leadership has also proven to have an effect on incivility and creativity (Harold & Holtz, 2015),
which are relevant factors in intrapreneurship.
Our intention is to further extend the current research by investigating how a passive leadership
can impact intrapreneurial behavior, with a focus from the intrapreneurs perspective. Therefore,
we have conducted a qualitative study in order to get a deeper understanding of the phenomena.
1.2 Research Question The question to guide our discussion regarding leadership in relation to intrapreneurial behavior
is: How does passive leadership impact intrapreneurial behavior?
4
1.3 Intended contribution The intended contribution with this study is to extend current research on intrapreneurship by
looking at the phenomena from an overlooked point of view and extending the knowledge about
how destructive leadership affects the intrapreneurial behavior. Our findings could contribute
to the work of Moriano et al. (2011) by extending their findings about leadership in relation to
intrapreneurial behavior. Our intention is to do that by looking more deeply at how passive
leadership acts in relation to intrapreneurial behavior by conducting a qualitative study instead
of a quantitative. This is also suggested by Yariv and Galit (2017) as they concluded in their
study that the interrelation between the dark and bright sides of interactions and its impact on
intrapreneurial behavior has been overlooked. Passive leadership is also suggested by Holtz and
Hu (2017) to be an under researched area and they recommend for more empirical studies about
the concept of passive leadership. By looking at it in relation to intrapreneurs it also extends
their research about passive leadership in relation to trust by investigating how their findings
stand in relation to intrapreneurs. In Yariv and Galit´s (2017) study about how incivility could
affect intrapreneurs they concluded that organizational support is the mediator between
incivility and intrapreneurs. Since leaders facilitate the support in an organization it is of interest
to look further into, and we hope to contribute to their findings by looking at destructive
leadership in relation to intrapreneurs.
The findings in this study could also serve as an empirical contribution to leaders who manage
employees with intrapreneurial behavior and as several researchers state, intrapreneurship is an
efficient way to increase financial performance. Engaging in intrapreneurial behavior can lead
to better performance, more profitability and firm growth (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2003; Zahra &
Covin, 1995; Antoncic & Antoncic, 2011) and should hence be considered as a beneficial
strategy for management to learn more about. As our study focuses on the employee’s
perspective it provides an insight in what is important for the intrapreneurs and how their
behavior could be enhanced as well as inhibited.
1.4 Object of Study The intention is to do a qualitative case study gathering information through document analysis,
data analysis and semi-structured interviews with intrapreneurial employees. We agree with
Antoncic and Hisrich (2003) that intrapreneurs can be found in many different types of
organizations and positions. We have therefore not limited our research to one type of
5
organization but rather looked at different employees from several kinds of organizations who
are characterized by intrapreneurial behavior. We have studied employees that are risk-taking,
creative and who take initiative to improve and innovate which are all intrapreneurial attributes.
6
2. Literature Review
2.1 Introduction In the following literature review the concept of intrapreneurship will be discussed as well as
the factors that extant research has found to be of importance to intrapreneurial behavior. A
review of the current research on leadership and the effect of passive leadership will be used to
assist in the interpretation of the findings from the case study.
2.2 The Concept of Intrapreneurship Intrapreneurship is defined as a bottom-up approach where employees take advantage of
opportunities by being proactive, innovative and taking risks (Neessen et al., 2019).
Furthermore, Gifford Pinchot III (1985) defined the intrapreneurs as “The dreamers who do.
Those who take hands-on responsibility for creating an innovation of any kind within an
organization” (p. ix). Similarly, Antoncic and Hisrich (2003) argued that intrapreneurs can be
innovative in all kinds of activities such as development of new products, administrative
techniques, services, strategies and more. Antoncic and Hisrich (2003) also use an overall
definition which is that intrapreneurship is entrepreneurship within an existing organization
where the activities in the organization departs from the customary. By integrating the previous
categorizations surrounding the implementation of entrepreneurial concepts in organizations,
Antoncic and Hisrich (2003) concluded that the concept of intrapreneurship can be classified
into eight dimensions. New Ventures; which refers to the creation of new units or firms within
the organization. New Businesses; when entering new businesses related to the current products
or markets the organization are involved in. Product/service innovativeness; refers to the
organization’s engagement of creating new products and services. Process innovativeness;
improving and developing production procedures and techniques. Self-Renewal; the company
reformulates their strategy and initiates organizational change internally. Risk Taking; The
company acknowledges the possibility of loss when taking bold actions, experimenting and
committing resources in the pursuit of new opportunities. Proactiveness; Top management
wants the organization to lead change rather than follow change and does this by seizing market
opportunities. Competitive Aggressiveness; The organization continuously challenges its
competitors and responses to threats (Antonic & Hisrich, 2003).
7
2.3 Benefits of Intrapreneurship When now having a clear definition of what intrapreneurship is, the question of why an
organization should engage in intrapreneurship will be addressed. A lot of extant research has
found that engaging in intrapreneurial behavior can lead to better performance, more
profitability and firm growth (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2003; Zahra & Covin, 1995; Antoncic &
Antoncic, 2011). Before the term of intrapreneurship was truly set, some researchers used the
word corporate entrepreneurship. Two researchers that did this were Zahra and Covin (1995),
they also showed that corporate entrepreneurship had a positive effect on financial performance
and that it can keep growing over a longer period of time. By incorporating entrepreneurship
into the corporation, it can serve as a long-time strategy for increasing financial performance
rather than a quick solution just to find a new idea. The recommendations for managerial actions
are to consider the incorporation of entrepreneurship as a tool to enhance financial performance
on a more serious level, as their research shows that it has a significant effect on both growth
and profitability. They also suggest that managers should adopt a long-term perspective when
developing, managing and evaluating the intrapreneurial activities in order to increase the
potential the strategy may have. Key for succeeding with incorporating an entrepreneurial
strategy and to realize the full benefits, is that the managers support the entrepreneurial
initiatives for a longer period of time. The managerial support in this process is very important
and managers are suggested to be willing and able to sustain their support for several years.
Zahra and Covin (1995) also emphasize on the importance of the environment the
entrepreneurial strategy is taking place in and how it can determine how big of an affect the
entrepreneurial behaviors can have.
2.4 Prerequisites for Intrapreneurial Behavior In order for intrapreneurial behavior to exist in employees, organizational support is necessary
and found to have a positive effect on intrapreneurship as well as the internal environment in
the organization (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2001). Alpkan, Bulut, Gunday, Ulusoy, and Kilic (2010)
suggest that managers in an organization where intrapreneurial behavior is crucial, should
invest in actively creating a culture where support and tolerance is eminent to a large extent.
The employees should be confident that they can develop ideas for innovation even though they
are risky, it is important that they know they are listened to and encouraged to act on their ideas,
if they fail they should not be afraid of getting punished. Alpkan et al. (2010) found that fear of
8
loneliness and failure are burdens that could inhibit the intrapreneurs in their idea process,
which is why an internal environment with high support and tolerance is important in order to
create innovation. Organizational support could be divided into five factors derived by Alpkan
et al. (2010) which are: Management support, Allocation of free time, Work discretion,
Performance-based reward systems and Tolerance for risk taking. In the study conducted by
Alpkan et al. (2010) it was evident that management support, tolerance for risk and
performance-based reward systems have a positive relation to innovative performance where
tolerance for risk and management support are especially important in relation to intrapreneurs.
The importance of organizational support is also addressed by Yariv and Galit (2017), their
study showed that organizational support is important to inspire employees to behave
intrapreneurial. The level of tolerance for taking risk that the management and the culture
allows, is a crucial factor in order for intrapreneurial behavior to take place in the organization.
In order for the employees to innovate and initiate new projects where the outcome is
impossible to predict they need to be assured that regardless of the outcome, they are secured
by the management (Antonic & Hisrich, 2001). The management has a significant role of
encouraging the employees to intrapreneurial behavior. Marvel et al. (2007) suggest that
enabling communication and providing mechanisms that welcome ideas and allow them to be
further developed and implemented are positively related to intrapreneurship. Furthermore,
Yariv and Galit (2017) also identified that organizational support acts as the mediator between
incivility in the workplace and intrapreneurship.
The intrapreneurs need to have autonomy and the freedom to manage their time and way of
working as well as a decentralized decision-making process, as it will increase intrapreneurial
activities (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996). Freedom to act on an idea or vision is crucial in order for
intrapreneurial behavior to take place in an organization. According to Lumpkin and Dess
(1996) intrapreneurs need to take action free of organizational formalities and constraints. In
order to increase intrapreneurial behavior, Razavi and Ab Aziz (2017) suggest that it is
beneficial for the intrapreneurs to engage in networking, both internal bonding networks and
external bridging networks, where they can get influenced by others.
Duncan, Ginter, Rucks, and Jacobs (1988) address the importance of the individuals in order to
succeed with intrapreneurship. A firm wanting to be intrapreneurial and utilize the individuals
must become organized and build a culture conducive to intrapreneurship. The firm also needs
to have a strategy on how to encourage creative people, and the knowledge on how to implement
9
the innovations created into the corporate strategy. Duncan et al. (1988) state that there are two
important problems that organizations have to tackle, firstly, if the companies do not focus
enough resources on developing creative people, it is a strategic problem. Secondly, if they do
not know how to compensate the creative people, it is a tactical problem for the organization.
In order to solve the strategy problem, they suggest four strategic moves: 1. High-level
managers must frequently make public statements about the importance of innovativeness. 2.
When goal-setting systems are used, innovation and creativity must be given high priority. 3.
Reward systems must encourage creativity. 4. Management must realize that creative people
are driven by creation and not competition. For the tactical problem Duncan et al. (1988)
suggest intracapital to motivate intrapreneurs. Intracapital is capital that cannot be used outside
the corporation, it is only created when an innovation has created profits, for example a cost
reduction in the production that would generate profit. A part of this profit is then put towards
the intrapreneurs to come up with more and new innovations. Duncan et al. (1988) also suggest
that companies can compensate the intrapreneurs with stocks and dividends, so when the
organization succeeds the intrapreneur gains resources used outside the company as well.
Despite all of this Duncan et al. (1988) mention that there will always be entrepreneurs that go
their own way, often lonely wolves. However, in this modern day of age entrepreneurs need
resources which are expensive and therefore they need the corporate resources in order to
exercise their creativity.
2.5 Leadership and Intrapreneurs Moriano et al. (2011) investigated how leadership relates to intrapreneurship where
transformative leadership, transactional leadership and passive-avoidant leadership was
examined. Transformational leaders are known for connecting employees’ self-concept to the
interests and goals of the organization which has proven to improve innovativeness and
proactiveness. Transactional leaders create clear structures and roles and the relation to
employees is transactional where the leader controls rewards. Passive-avoidant leaders avoid
specifying agreements, clarifying actions and providing goals and standards. Moriano et al.
(2011) conducted a quantitative study where a questionnaire was sent out to different
individuals in order to determine what type of leadership their leader possessed, this was then
put in relation to the individual's level of intrapreneurial behavior. The result demonstrated that
a transformative leadership relates positively to intrapreneurial behavior, transactional
leadership relates negatively to intrapreneurial behavior and passive-avoidant behavior does not
10
relate to intrapreneurial behavior. However, the study did not go in depth how the individuals
were affected by the leadership and the major focus was on transformational leadership. The
effects and characteristics of passive leadership were not taken into consideration or further
investigated.
2.6 Passive Leadership Passive leadership is a type of destructive leadership (Hinkin & Schriesheim, 2008) that
involves a pattern of inaction on the part of a leader (DeRue et al., 2011). Passive leaders are
known for neglecting workplace problems, avoiding decisions and inadequately managing to
represent or reinforce appropriate behavior (Harold & Holtz, 2015). Both laissez-faire
leadership and passive management by exception (MBEP) are included in passive leadership.
MBEP is when the leader does not engage in a problem that does not exist or is not apparent to
the leader (DeRue et al., 2011), whereas laissez-faire leadership is described as a non-response
leadership (Skogstad et al., 2007). Chênevert, Vandenberghe, Doucet, and Ben Ayed (2013)
state that passive leaders are known for not giving feedback to employees and they often lack
proactive orientation and tend to not take action until it is too late. Passive leaders only intervene
when work problems become chronic and are likely to avoid taking actions about work-related
matters. Chênevert et al. (2013) argue that passive leaders could affect the work climate through
poor social relationships with their employees. They also stress that the lack of attention from
supervisors who are passive in their leadership, could be experienced from the employees’ side
as an obstacle to their sense of accomplishment at work.
Passive leadership is often something that is not desirable among workplaces, many scholars
argue that it can lead to or has a strong association to sexual harassment, trust issues and
decreased job satisfaction which increases illegitimate absenteeism (Lee, 2018; Holtz & Hu,
2017; Frooman, Mendelson, & Kevin Murphy, 2012).
2.7 Incivility Workplace incivility is defined by Andersson and Pearson (1999) as “low-intensity deviant
behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target, in violation of workplace norms for mutual
respect. Uncivil behaviors are characteristically rude and discourteous, displaying a lack of
regard for others.” (p. 457). This behavior can include things such as showing little interest in
another’s opinion or eye rolling and checking emails during meetings (Porath & Pearson, 2010).
11
Workplace incivility can lead to employees engaging in a devious manner however, it may lead
others to increased innovative behavior for the same reason, as an attempt to amend the uncivil
relations with the offender and organization (Yariv & Galit, 2017). Incivility is targeted at the
individual and not the organization as higher-more intensive behavior can be, like
counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and violence and aggression, where behaviors such
as production sabotage and verbally and physically threatening can happen at the workplace
(Harold & Holtz, 2015).
2.8 Incivility as an Effect of Passive Leadership Harold and Holtz (2015) examined the effects passive leadership may have on workplace
incivility and found that passive leadership is negatively related with incivility, the higher level
of passive leadership the higher experienced incivility in the workplace. The study they
conducted show that employees working under a passive manager are more likely to both
behave uncivil and experience incivility in the workplace. This relation was also found in the
study conducted by Lee and Jensen (2014) where they concluded that passive leadership is both
directly and indirectly related to workplace incivility. Harold and Holtz (2015) argue that both
observing incivility as well as being engaged in uncivil behavior could result in reduced job
performance and job satisfaction, which could result in employees withdrawing from the
company. These effects cost the company a lot of money and should hence be of interest to
management. Porath and Erez (2007) suggest that incivility also has a negative effect on
creativity, task performance and helping behavior, which are crucial factors in order for
intrapreneurial behavior to exist (Neessen et al., 2019). The type of incivility that could affect
these factors could be both indirect rudeness such as overhearing someone speaking rudely or
be more direct such as being confronted personally. Regardless whether the act of rudeness
comes from a role with authority or from a third party it still affects task performance and
creativity and even if an incident only happens one time, it still has serious consequences on
cognitive tasks (Porath & Erez, 2007). The study that was conducted by Porath and Erez (2007)
show that even if individuals do not think that rudeness is a problem at their workplace, which
could be the case in an organization where it is acceptable to be rude, rudeness may still have
consequences. If people are not aware that rudeness affects them they could still be harmed
with cognitive losses. When someone experiences rude behavior the process of thinking
through and trying to make sense of the event could be on the cost of cognitive resources which
could have been put on the task instead (Porath & Erez, 2007).
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2.9 Trust Issues as an Effect of Passive Leadership McAllister (1995) indicates that there are two types of trust, affect-based and cognition-based,
where the first concerns the emotional association between the leader and the employee,
whereas the latter concerns performance, responsibilities and competencies.
Holtz and Hu (2017) conducted a study where the relation between passive leadership and
cognition-based trust was investigated and the results showed that passive leadership is
negatively correlated with trust. Supervisors that are passive in their leadership towards
employees may do serious harm to the trust from the employees. Employees have a lack of trust
towards the competence of their supervisors when their supervisor exhibits passive leadership,
with behaviors such as neglecting or missing problems, delaying decisions or not making
themselves available to the employees. Holtz and Hu (2017) mean that there is no reason for
employees to trust their leader if the leader avoids responsibility, does not show up when needed
and is often nowhere to be found. In order to build trust, they should have good and frequent
communication with the employees and attempt to proactively, anticipate and solve potential
issues and problems in the workplace (Holtz & Hu 2017). Furthermore Adeel, Khan, Zafar, and
Rizvi (2018) also showed in their study that passive attitude from management might lead to
negative consequences in employees that can harm the trust as well.
2.10 Summary Previous research has given an extensive review of what intrapreneurship is (Antoncic &
Hisrich, 2003; Gifford Pinchot III, 1985; Neessen et al., 2019), what the benefits are (Antoncic
& Hisrich, 2003; Zahra & Covin, 1995) and what is important in order for intrapreneurial
behavior to exist in the organization (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2001; Alpkan et al., 2010; Yariv &
Galit, 2017). However, looking at the phenomena from the employee’s perspective have been
neglected and the lack of the darker side of interactions with intrapreneurs have been
overlooked which is pointed out by several researchers in the field (Andersson & Pearson, 1999;
Yariv & Galit, 2017; Neessen et al., 2019). Within the research of leadership, it is often
investigated how a good leadership looks like, that is also the case with leadership in relation
to intrapreneurs. In the work of Moriano et al. (2011) they investigated through a quantitative
study, how different leadership styles relate to individuals with intrapreneurial behavior. Their
conclusion was that passive leadership and intrapreneurial behavior does not relate at all. In
order to further extend their research it could be interesting to investigate the phenomena with
13
a qualitative study where a deeper understanding could be retained (Merriam, 2010). As Yariv
and Galit (2017) and Andersson and Pearson (1999) suggest, that the darker side of
interrelations with intrapreneurs are overlooked, it also argues for the need of conducting a
study where a destructive leadership in relation to intrapreneurs will be investigated. In order
to investigate the relation between a destructive leadership and intrapreneurs, literature
regarding the nature of passive leadership have been reviewed. It was found that passive leaders
are neglecting problems, not being proactive, avoid taking decisions and have an inadequate
skill to manage, represent or reinforce appropriate behavior (Cénevert et al., 2013; Harold &
Holtz, 2015; Hinkin & Schriesheim, 2008). Known effects from passive leadership are
incivility, and trust issues between leader and employees (Harold & Holtz, 2015; Adeel et al.,
2018; Holtz & Hu, 2017). The set of theories in this review have been used as tools and provided
a theoretical ground for the discussion, regarding how our empirical findings acts in relation to
passive leadership. This theoretical foundation has guided us in our discussion regarding the
question: How does passive leadership impact intrapreneurial behavior?
14
3. Research Design
3.1 Research Question and Purpose
How does passive leadership impact intrapreneurial behavior?
The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the research of entrepreneurship and more
specifically the sub-field of intrapreneurship as well as the research of leadership. Extant
research of intrapreneurship suggest that future research should focus on interactions that can
inhibit intrapreneurial behavior since this has often been overlooked, such as incivility and
destructive leadership (Andersson & Pearson, 1999). The findings in this study can extend the
work of Moriano et al. (2011) where leadership in relation to intrapreneurial behavior was
studied quantitatively and passive leadership was not investigated in detail. Furthermore, Yariv
and Galiv (2017) and Neessen et al. (2019) suggest that future research should look at the
perspective of the employees when it comes to intrapreneurial behavior since earlier research
has focused on the management’s perspective. We have therefore attempted to contribute to the
areas that have been overlooked in extant research regarding intrapreneurship and leadership.
In particular the work by Moriano et al. (2011) and Holtz and Hu (2017) by looking through a
qualitative study at the relation between passive leadership and intrapreneurial behavior, from
an employee perspective.
3.2 Research Strategy The research conducted is structured based on a paradigm which Slevitch (2011) means can be
referred to as a common and shared world view. The paradigm which the research methodology
in this thesis is based on, is called ontology and is the study of reality and things that comprise
reality. Ontology defines the epistemological view, which is the theory of knowledge and the
assumptions about what constitutes legitimate knowledge and meaningful data. The scientific
view serves as the foundation upon which a methodology is based and specifies the assumptions
of reality, human nature and society, the beliefs about what is important to study and
assumptions about what constitutes legitimate knowledge and meaningful data. A methodology
hence establishes methods to be used in a scientific inquiry. These methods constitute a set of
tools, procedures, techniques or strategies that are appropriate for the research in question
(Slevitch, 2011).
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In this thesis, the qualitative paradigm is used, according to Slevitch (2011) it is an approach
that stems from idealism which is an ontological view suggesting that reality depends on the
individual’s mental structure and activity. An idealistic standpoint emphasizes that there is no
single reality but multiple realities based on the individual’s construction or interpretation of
reality. Realities can be distinguished in the form of multiple social and mental constructions
dependent on what perceptions of the reality individuals hold. Slevitch (2011) suggests that as
reality depends on the minds of individuals, it is affected by values, point of views, interests
and purposes and things can only be described as we perceive or interpret them. Facts cannot
be separated from values and hence absolute objectivity is not possible. The aim with a
qualitative scientific investigation is to acquire better understanding of the phenomena from the
point of view of the individuals participating in the study (Slevitch 2011). A research design
commonly used when using qualitative data is a qualitative case study which Merriam (2010)
defines as a deep analysis of a single unit that has boundaries, and where the goal should be to
understand and find the meaning of the phenomenon of interest. The best method for collecting
data in a qualitative case study is to use the researcher as an instrument where interviews,
observations and document analysis should be central, that is to ensure a deep understanding of
the bounded system (Merriam, 2010).
The qualitative approach is appropriate for the study we have conducted as we want to
investigate a small group of individuals from different companies, and how they interpret and
are affected by certain activities as well as what is important to them. What we want to
investigate, “How does passive leadership impact intrapreneurial behavior?” requires us to
get to know the individuals with an aim to better understand what affects their values and mental
constructions, to then be able to find out how the characteristics and effects of passive
leadership acts in relation to the individuals. Why we choose the qualitative perspective was to
achieve the goal of understanding the phenomena from the point of view of the intrapreneurs
in question. Since this method could grant deeper and more complex insights as to how they
could be impacted from passive leadership, it would increase the chances to extend the
discussion of how leadership relates to intrapreneurial behavior.
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3.3 Operationalization of the Research Question In order to examine the research question, we have operationalized it using a thematic analysis
and broken it down into four sub-themes. These themes guided us in the creation of the
interview guide (Appendix 9.1c). The four sub-themes are:
Intrapreneurial behaviors
In this sub-theme we primarily want to ensure that the attributes of intrapreneurs we found in
previous research match the interviewees to ensure that we are in fact interviewing
intrapreneurs. We also want to know more about the intrapreneur and their thoughts in order to
create an understanding of how they work.
Organizational support: risk tolerance & failure
In this sub-theme we want to examine how much support the intrapreneur needs and wants from
their leader, and also how it can affect their performance and creativity. We also want to know
if the support from the leader can affect risk tolerance and the failure rate for the intrapreneur.
Incivility affect intrapreneurs & how it is managed by leaders
In this sub-theme we want to look at the working environment and its effect on the
intrapreneurial behaviors. More specifically we want to focus on incivility in the working
environment and how the engagement of the leader can have an effect on it.
Preferred leadership
In this sub-theme we want the intrapreneur to define what their preference of leadership is, in
order to relate it to the characteristics of passive leadership.
3.4 Case Study Simons (2009) defines case studies as:
“an in-depth exploration from multiple perspectives of the complexity and uniqueness of a
particular project, policy, institution, programme or system in a ‘real life’ context. It is
research-based, inclusive of different methods and is evidence-led. The primary purpose is
to generate in-depth understanding of a specific topic (as in a thesis), programme, policy,
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institution or system to generate knowledge and/or inform policy development, professional
practice and civil or community action” (p. 21).
Agreeing with her definition we chose to do a case study in order to obtain as much information
as possible about the intrapreneur and their relationship to their leader. We have chosen an
abductive approach where we go back and forth between our theoretical framework and the
data collected during the case study, this allows us to develop further interesting finds from the
interviews.
3.4.1 Data collection
In order to gain as much knowledge and data as possible regarding intrapreneurs we have
conducted interviews with the intrapreneurs themselves and we also did a document analysis.
We have conducted semi-structured interviews since it can generate depth, seeing that it gives
an opportunity for the interviewer to extend on the interviewee's answers (Rubin & Rubin,
2005). We have collected data during the interviews both through the conversation and also
through observations, as it enhances the validity of our findings and increases our confidence
that we have captured the participants' understanding and interpretations of the phenomena as
closely as possible (Merriam, 2010). During the interview we have followed an interview guide
set by our sub-themes, decided under the Operationalization of the research question. To
increase validity and broaden our findings we have looked at different individuals from several
companies in different industries. Since we choose to examine the individual and not a specific
firm we used several methods such as social media and recommendations to find intrapreneurs.
We purposely chose to not only elect individuals from recommendations since this might lead
us to have too many similar intrapreneurs and a lot of intrapreneurs from the same company.
3.4.2 Sampling and sample size
When conducting the sampling for the interviews we practiced Robinson’s (2014) four-point
approach shown in Figure 1 below.
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Figure 1. The four-point approach to qualitative sampling (Robinson, 2014, p. 26).
The four-point approach was adopted and Figure 2 shows the result when applied to our study.
Figure 2. The four-point approach applied to our study.
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Point 1; Sample universe: Since we want to study the intrapreneur and their behaviors, our
sample universe must be psychologically homogeneous, which means that the individuals
within the sample have similar traits or abilities (Robinson, 2014). For our study it is individuals
with intrapreneurial traits. Point 2; Sample size: Robinson (2014) recommends that when doing
an undergraduate project an idiographic (small) aim is more suitable when it comes to sample
size. This is because a smaller sample size will make sure each individual case is voiced and
thoroughly analyzed. Therefore, we have chosen to have a sample size of 10 people. Point 3;
Sample strategy: We have chosen to do a mixed-gender purposive sampling strategy with an
intensity sampling. Firstly, we chose a purposive sampling strategy which is a non-random
sampling method (Robinson, 2014), this is because we want to find specific individuals
matching our theoretical understanding of what an intrapreneur is. Secondly, we argue that a
mixed-gender sample is more beneficial for our study since it is focused on the individual with
no specific gender, we also want to diminish any gender biases from our study. Thirdly, we
choose to do intensity sampling which is used when the objective is theoretical insight. Intensity
sampling aims to find information-rich cases which are chosen specifically to be
comprehensive, insightful, articulate and honest (Robinson, 2014). Therefore, we selected
intensity sampling because we want in-depth knowledge of the intrapreneurs themselves and
their behaviors. Point 4; Source of sample: We have contacted the intrapreneurs individually
without any incentives, some individuals have been obtained through recommendations.
3.4.3 Interview process
When conducting a semi-structured interview, it is normal to have an interview guide to make
sure the same thematic approach is applied during all interviews (Qu & Dumay, 2011). We
have therefore created an interview guide which was used throughout all our interviews
(Appendix 9.1c). Even if a semi-structured interview is inclined to be done face to face we have
conducted all interviews via online communication platforms (Zoom, Skype & Teams), this
because of the COVID-19 pandemic which restrains us from meeting people. Because of the
usage of online communications platforms, we have created some additional guidelines in order
for the interviews to be as fluent as possible: (I) The video for both parties should be on, this is
because we wanted the interview to be as lifelike as possible. (II) Before each interview we
appoint a leader for the interview which conducts the interview, this is due to the unintended
interruptions that can occur easier when the physical human interaction is removed. (III) The
person who is not lead will be a time checker, in order to manage the time properly and make
sure we move forward and stay on topic. Before each interview we send out an email with
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general information and attached an information sheet regarding the study (Appendix 9.1a) and
a consent form (Appendix 9.1b) for the interviewee to sign. This is to make sure that they are
fully informed of the study, have information regarding anonymity and the knowledge that the
interview is recorded. All of our interviews had a duration between 40 - 70 minutes each.
3.5 Trustworthiness and Authenticity Guba and Lincoln (1994) argue that the quality of a qualitative study should include two main
criterias; trustworthiness and authenticity. Where trustworthiness should contain four topics;
credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. In order to execute credibility, we
used a methodological triangulation, by analysing both the data from our case study and also
reports conducted by organizations and institutions, regarding intrapreneurs. To show
transferability we kept the results of our analysis to the context of our study and have not
generazied it towards all intrapreneurs. Guba and Lincoln (1994) state that dependability is
enforced by peers auditing the work throughout the research, we instead had our supervisor on
several occasions check our work throughout the research, in lack of scholar peers.
Furthermore, Guba and Lincoln (1994) state that dependability should be apparent through not
allowing personal values or theoretical dispositions to impress or create biases in the research,
this has been done to our greatest extent. However, it should be noted that to entirely abolish
personal values from qualitative research is impossible.
Guba and Lincoln (1994) describe that authenticity consists of four criterias; fairness,
ontological authenticity, educative authenticity, catalytic authenticity and tactical authenticity.
However, Bryman (2012) states that these authenticity criterias are thought-provoking but not
influential and therefore, we took these criterias into consideration throughout our research, but
did not put as much emphasis on them. However, fairness was something we did take to heart
and tried to execute throughout our research as much as possible, for example we followed
Lincoln and Guba’s (1986) technique and sent a consent form out before the interviews and
was always transparent with our information.
3.6 Research Ethics Research ethics is highly important in order to create a reliable and trustworthy research. The
Swedish research council defines four main ethical requirements for research: (I) The researcher
should inform the person concerned about the reason for the research. (II) Participants in the
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study should decide themselves if they want to participate or not. (III) The personal information
regarding the participants should be anonymous if wanted and their information should be kept
safe. (IV) The information collected from the participant is only to be used for research purposes
(Humanistisk- samhällsvetenskapliga forskningsrådet, 2002). We do also think that research
ethics is highly important and have therefore as mentioned above, a study information sheet
and a consent form (Appendix 9: 1a & 1b) sent out to the interviewees to properly ensure that
the four requirements from the Swedish research council are met.
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4. Analysis
4.1 Introduction In this section we present the methods we have used to analyze the data we have collected and
our findings after analyzing the empirical data. The object of this study is the intrapreneurs and
their relation to their leader, which have been investigated by a case study where we have
conducted interviews with 10 different intrapreneurs from different organizations and positions.
4.2 Method of Analysis In order to analyze the qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews in our case
study, we have used a thematic analysis. A thematic analysis has according to Braun and Clark
(2006) a theoretical freedom and could therefore be used with flexibility and provide a rich and
detailed account of data. Since we have an abductive data collection approach and hope to find
more theory based on our findings in the data analysis, we argue that a flexible method is
appropriate. A thematic analysis was used in order to identify, analyze and report themes
amongst the data that has been collected (Braun & Clarke, 2006). A theme is a category that
has been identified amongst the data, it relates to the focus of the research and it can be built on
codes that have been identified in the transcript. Bryman and Bell (2015) state that by
identifying themes it will provide us with guidance in order to find a theoretical understanding
of the data, which we hope can contribute to the research field of intrapreneurship. As Ryan
and Bernad (2003) suggest, we have used the following points to guide what we should look
for in the transcripts from the interviews:
➢ Repetitions: Opinions and topics that are shared often and by many of the participants.
➢ Metaphors and analogies: How the participants present their thoughts.
➢ Transitions: If the topics in the transcripts shift and in what way.
➢ Similarities and differences: Look for how the participants discuss things in different or
similar ways.
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In order to structure the data and assist in finding themes we followed the six phases Braun and
Clark (2006) points out as a useful step by step guide:
1. Familiarizing yourself with your data
After each interview we familiarized ourselves with the data by manually transcribing it. We
chose to manually transcribe each interview in order to better reflect and understand the data,
since we can hear the interviewees tone of voice and non-linguistic sounds and expressions.
After transcribing the interviews, we also checked the transcripts once again against the audio
to reassure the accuracy.
2. Generating initial codes
After re-reading the transcripts once more we extracted quotes and paragraphs we found
interesting, relevant and meaningful and created initial codes for them. We did this with the
guidance of Ryan and Bernard’s (2003) approach mentioned above.
3 & 4. Searching for themes and reviewing themes
When all the data was processed and given an initial code, we started searching for themes
within the codes, we did this with the help of mind maps. After finding different recurring
themes, we reviewed and changed them several times until we had the final thematic map
(Figure 3). We found two main themes, these are; what enhances and what inhibits
entrepreneurial behavior, and within each of these, two sub-themes were also found. Further
the final themes were then listed with the data extracts in one coherent list (Appendix 9.2).
5. Defining and naming themes
When the final thematic map was set we defined and named all themes (Table 1).
6. Producing the report
Finally, we produced a report with all our findings in a coherent story, this can be found under
the section 4.3 Analysis of the Data.
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Enhances Things that enhances intrapreneurial behaviors
Leadership: attributes, support and relationship This theme emerged when the participants started to explain what they want and need from their leader in order to enhance their intrapreneurial behaviors. This sub-theme includes three important parts; the leaders attributes, what kind of support they give and what their relationship looks like.
Environment This sub-theme includes what the participants also said they needed, but from their environment. This sub-theme includes both the mental and the physical environment, where the mental is concerning their colleagues and the physical is tools, machines, devices and so.
Inhibits Things that inhibits intrapreneurial behaviors
Leadership: attributes, lack of support, and relationship
This theme emerged when the participants started to explain what things that leaders do that inhibits their intrapreneurial behaviors. This sub-theme includes three important parts; the leaders' attributes, the lack of support they give and what their relationship looks like.
Incivility In this sub-theme the participants talk about incivility; observed incivility, experienced incivility, the effects of it and how it can be handled.
Table 1. Definitions of the themes and sub-themes in the thematic map
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4.3 Analysis of the Data The individuals we have interviewed are creative and innovative with many ideas and solutions
in their minds. They have been provoking and initiating discussions in order to spark innovation
at their organizations, even though this seems like a perfect employee, it is not always
welcomed. Managers also sometimes have a lack of knowledge on what inhibits or enhances
the employees´ intrapreneurial behaviors. As the purpose for this research is to broaden the
point of view of intrapreneurship and look at factors that may inhibit intrapreneur´s ability to
act intrapreneurial, we have conducted interviews with these employees. The purpose of the
interviews was to find out what the intrapreneurs value, why they might fail with acting on their
ideas and what can inhibit as well as enhance their intrapreneurial behavior. A report from
Intraprenörskapskompassen conducted by Blomkvist, Kappen and Zander (2017) and a report
from the consultancy firm Deloitte (2015) have also been analyzed in order to broaden the
findings and get a more nuanced view on the phenomena. Furthermore, in this section the result
from our interviews and document analysis will be presented and put in relation with what
current researchers have found on the topic of intrapreneurship. The findings from our case
study are discussed in relation to passive leadership in the discussion section. (The data extract
on which the analysis is based on can be found in the appendix 9.2)
4.3.1 Intrapreneurial behavior
The interviewees in this study work in all types of different industries such as large banks,
consultancy firms and smaller companies within construction and transportation, there are also
some interviewees from companies where innovation and intrapreneurship are a big focus area,
such as 3M. At some of the companies where the interviewees work, they are able to spend a
predetermined amount of time working with their own ideas. As Antoncic and Hisrisch (2013)
suggest, the intrapreneurs can be found in different types of organizations, they can be
innovative in all kinds of activities such as development of new products, administrative
techniques, services, strategies and more. In order to validate the interviewees as intrapreneurs
and thus be coherent with our object of study, we initiated the interview with discussing their
everyday work and letting them describe themselves and their work. All of the participants
explained that they take initiative and come up with new ideas, where some contributed with
making internal processes more efficient (participant A, C), some introduced new strategies
(participants F, H, E), and some also developed new products (participants D, G). All
participants expressed that they believe it is necessary to take risks in order to innovate and
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contribute to change which is according to Neessen et al. (2019) the definition of intrapreneurial
behavior, to take advantage of opportunities by being proactive, innovative and risk-taking.
Taking risk:
“I would say that I rather take a risk that could fail pretty hard, rather than not try at all”
- Participant E
“I like taking risks. But not a foolish risk, that is important to say” - Participant B
Being proactive:
“...that's one of my biggest selling points, when I am trying to sell myself as a worker, to be
kind of an innovator, but also in a proactive way take advantage of the ideas that exist and
connect well with the organization, to push them forward” - Participant E
Being innovative:
“...currently working more internally with business development, innovation and product
development” - Participant C
“I am very prone to take initiative, be creative, I feel that I have the ability to connect many
things, see the bigger picture, see things maybe others do not see or grasp, things that fall
through the cracks” - Participant J
4.3.2 Enhances intrapreneurial behavior
When listening to the intrapreneurs during our interviews they all explained how aspects of
leadership and their working environment have enhanced their intrapreneurial behavior.
Intrapreneurial behavior includes their ability to be creative and innovative, their tendency to
dare to take risks and level of contribution to change. The participants have pointed out several
things that are of importance to them, however, we have chosen to focus on what is recurring
amongst them. These will be presented in the following sections with the guidance from the
themes from our thematic map (see figure 3).
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4.3.2.1 Leadership: attributes, support and relationship
When discussing what enhances factors such as creativity, innovativeness and the intrapreneur's
ability to act on their ideas, they often expressed how they want their leader to act in a certain
way. They wanted their leader to hold certain attributes and they expressed that the support
from the leader determines their ability to contribute to innovation in several aspects. In order
for intrapreneurial behavior to occur Yariv and Galit (2017) mean that organizational support,
which they describe include tolerance for risk and managerial support, is necessary which is
also stressed by Alpkan et al. (2010). When the interviewees addressed what enhances their
tendency to take risk it is in line with what Yariv and Galit (2017) and Alpkan et al. (2010)
suggest, that leaders show tolerance for risk-taking behavior, which was recurring as being a
desired way a leader can ensure tolerance for risk, this was expressed as followed:
“A good example is a group of circus acrobats, who throw themselves into each other's arms
on cords and such...who dares to make the coolest tricks? Those who have a safety net or
those who do not have a safety net? Of course, it is those who have a safety net [...] people
who encourage you instead, "it was still a good job, if you had never tried, we would never
have known if it works or not”, if that kind of social safety nets are there you dare more.” -
Participant D
What I think is important is to know that your leader has your back and to know that the
person will at least try to stand by me, even if I was wrong. That I'm sure that the person
supports me, [...] doing a quality check on everything you do is why you need time with the
leader and to be able to have them as a sounding board" - Participant E
These findings are also in line with what Antoncic and Hisrich (2001) suggest, that
intrapreneurs need to feel secured by management in order to take risks. When discussing with
the interviewees how leaders should emphasize that they tolerate risk in order for the
interviewees to be ensured that they could take risk, they pointed out the need for having a
dialogue with their leader and that clarity and trust was of importance. This supports the
findings from Marvel et al. (2007) where it was evident that communication relates positively
to intrapreneurship. The following was expressed by the interviewees:
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“An initial meeting where you go through and set up points that you can measure against
later…. Strong commitment early and then releases it completely, and then be able to come
back to it later.” - Participant B
“a lot of times it is about the individual dialogue between me and my manager where you
feel the trust, but also that you see in practice that the manager actually lives up to what the
manager says. And then you notice that if someone in the team did something, like it was a
"super fail" [...] That you have a learning culture, a learning mentality where all we do is
we learn not doing mistakes. I also think that the risk propensity even for those who may not
dare to take as much risk, which is not like me, increases, or that they dare [...] I believe a
learning culture, an understanding culture, an understanding manager and being accepting
of failure. - Participant H
The relation to their leader was frequently brought up as something that affects their
intrapreneurial behavior in several ways. For the interviewees, trust was one of the most
important attributes in the relationship to their leader in order for them to be able to be creative,
act on their ideas and take initiative for change. The following was expressed:
“I really think that building trust between each other is incredibly important [...] it is
because of problems that has roused in the company I work for now and that I realized the
importance of the problem with a lack of interpersonal relationship” - Participant B
“a tight dialogue [...] as well as an openness and trust in each other” - Participant C
When discussing how they want their leader to show that they trust them, they pointed out that
letting them to work more freely was one way for the leader to show that they trust them, and
it made the interviewees more creative and innovative to work autonomous. The effect they
described, working freely, is also in line with what Lumpkin and Dess (1996) suggest.
“My manager that I have today is very hands off [...] to let the employees manage their own
time to a bigger extent, I would say is an incubator for more innovative thoughts and ideas”
- Participant E
“I am the most creative when I have a lot of freedom [...] I need to be able to build my own
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way of working, how are we getting there, who do we need on board etc. I need to be able
to figure that out on my own, that is when an intrapreneur is at their best” - Participant J
However, the interviewees still pointed out that they need the leader to support them throughout
the process of acting on an idea which also is in line with the findings by Zahra and Covin
(1995). When starting a project, the interviewees frequently stressed the importance of being
able to use their leader as a sounding board, to discuss their ideas and thoughts with. This had
the effect of building trust and hence made them more comfortable with acting on their idea.
This is in line with what Holtz and Hu (2017) found in their study, that communication is a tool
for building trust between leaders and employees. Marvel et al. (2007) also suggest that
providing channels for communication is beneficial for intrapreneurship to succeed which is
coherent with what the interviewees expressed:
“If I had completely free hands, which is perhaps lucky that I do not have, then it would have
derailed here a long time ago [...] the management that we have, they make sure to guide it
right, so that we take the right initiative” - Participant F
“If there is something that the manager is not so involved in, then it can also suffice for me
to just activate the manager, saying that “now I do this, what do you think?” And that, then
it is perfectly okay that he has not thought about it before, but that he do it now, that he is
there” - Participant G
All of the interviewees want to be able to work with their ideas freely and when a problem
occurs they want support from their leader. Several of the interviewees pointed out that their
leader does not necessarily have to approach them but they want the leader to be available to
listen and help, when a problem occurs they want to ask for help which they meant was good
for them in their creative process:
“Not intervene but would definitely like to have them available in a way that I do not feel I
need support, but that you have the sounding board to discuss the needs or the problem that
is, in many cases the problem is solved just talking about them” - Participant E
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“I don't expect a manager to solve everything, a manager just tells me which way to go, “go
there and then you come to me if there is a problem, if you don't get the help you need there,
come to me again”, no more than that” - Participant G
To get help from their leader with pushing their idea forward was highly desired amongst the
interviewees and they mean it is necessary so that they can get the organizational support
needed. This helped them with fulfilling their idea and to contribute to change which is also in
line with the findings in the study conducted by Yariv and Galit (2017), where organizational
support showed to be positively correlated with intrapreneurial behavior. Support by having
strategies in how to encourage creative people and knowledge about implementing innovation
is also suggested by Duncan et al. (1988) to be important for intrapreneurship. Several of our
interviewees talked about a leader who set the stage, utilized their position to make things go
forward faster and be prioritized higher up in the organization, they wanted the leader to show
an interest in what they wanted to pursue.
“I think that if a manager should lack the interest in what we do or insight into what we do
also lack, in lack of better words, the balls for being able to stand up for us in situations
where we need to push through or kick in doors.” - Participant H
"In that sense he was very good as my manager, to clear the obstacles that put a stop for me
and use his contacts. I think it is also important that when you are the manager of a
intrapreneur that you do not let the administration work weigh down, because it is not there
the intrapreneur should work, that person should create” - Participant J
According to an extensive report about intrapreneurship in Sweden conducted by Blomkvist,
Kappen, and Zander (2017, p. 10) it was also evident that the effect of intrapreneurial behavior
is dependent on the decisions made by managers in the organization.
“The conditions for the intrapreneur are different. The introduction of a new product or
service requires acceptance and support from several different parts of the company, from
purchasing or manufacturing units and the sales organization, to the management who
decides on major investments in new projects. A "no" from any of these areas makes it very
difficult for the intrapreneur to move on with his idea, as the number of alternative paths
within the company is severely limited [...] the intrapreneur must be able to handle an
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internal and often political process in order to implement a new product or service.”
(Blomkvist et al., 2017)
Their empirical finding is in line with our findings from the interviews as the intrapreneurs we
talked to pointed out the desire to have a leader to fight for them through areas in the
organization.
4.3.2.2 Environment
The interviewees all expressed that the environment has a big impact on their ability to be
creative and perform in their work, both the psychological aspects involving the human
interactions and also the physical surroundings. In terms of their colleagues and the culture
within the team, the majority of the interviewees expressed in different ways that it is highly
important to have a positive and supporting attitude within the group in order for them to thrive
and be creative. Furthermore, several interviewees expressed their desire for an open-minded
atmosphere, to be able to talk about everything without fear in order for ideas to grow.
“You should have the same clear goals and high ceilings, so you are able to discuss things
with one and other, then tons of ideas will come up” - Participant F
Likewise, a report from Deloitte “Five Insights into Intrapreneurship - A Guide to Accelerating
Innovation within Corporations” (2015, p. 18,19) highlights the importance of an open culture
and why it is important for the intrapreneurs:
“It is important to show employees that their entrepreneurial behavior is supported and
fostered, which includes an open culture in which they are not afraid of sharing their ideas.
Each employee should be encouraged to come up with suggestions for incremental
improvements, as well as radical concepts. Later on, managers need to provide
implementation support in the form of resources and advice to reduce time-to-market and
increase the chances for success” - Deloitte Digital GmbH, (2015)
This strengthens our finding that the psychological aspects such as human interactions play a
significant part in the individuals intrapreneurial behaviors. The importance of having a
supportive and tolerant internal environment where the intrapreneurs feel safe is also in line
with the findings by Alpkan et al. (2010). Although the atmosphere in the workplace is
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important, it was highlighted by some that the competence and matching of the colleagues are
also crucial factors in order for ideas to occur. Nobody knows everything, meaning they have
to trust the team as a group, knowing that their colleagues are competent in their respective
field, makes them trust their decisions without having to put energy on doubt or to double check
every step. A diversified group was also voiced as important in order to get different angles and
perspectives on the task, the interviewees expressed that this should be facilitated by their
leader.
“Mostly that you feel that you have ended up with competent people who are in the right
place and have the right job [...] you always have to trust your colleagues, I can't question
someone who calculated all the numbers or something, then I have to trust it”
- Participant G
“If a manager sees a clear trend that some type of competence always seems to be needed
in his employees, then I would definitely say that it takes proactivity, striving to find the kind
of gap in the process or structure that can be filled with expertise and competence.”
- Participant E
Furthermore, the physical aspects of the environment were something all interviewees
addressed during the interviews; however, they had different preferences on what they wanted
and cared about. For some interviewees the tools and materials are very important, such as
whiteboards, others expressed that it is more important to have the ability to work outside the
office space or have the ability to work from home. Having the space and time for meeting
people within the organization was also important to some.
“A big room here where we sit and work, the walls are covered with whiteboards, you can
always get things up, you can test things, or draw things, write things, it's more about having
the right kind of equipment in place when you need it too, but there is also an environment
that needs to be inspiring, which is why we also have a shared office space, right in the
middle of the city, and there it is an environment for inspiration” - Participant F
“I think a lot depends on new impressions, for me personally, one thing is to be challenged
by something new. If I end up in a situation where it is repetitive, it is difficult to think new
[...] it is new impressions that affect my creativity. For example, I find it very difficult when
34
I sit here at home in the same room to come up with something new, I have to get out of here
and do something else to get it. I'm not a person who can sit still in the same place to get
that creativity started” - Participant B
When discussing the importance to meet people in order for them to get new perspectives on
things and new ideas, it was also suggested to create meetings to happen outside the
organization, which is in line with what Razavi and Ab Aziz (2017) suggest, that networking
has a positive effect on intrapreneurial behaviors. This was desired to be facilitated by the leader
through conventions, shared working spaces or even bringing in experts, in order for it to be
more structured.
“There is an environment to meet people outside the bank, so you get different perspectives
and other ideas, be able to talk to a non-banker at the coffee machine, and say what do you
do? Or what is your relationship with banks? And get other insights, then inspiration and
creativity will come from it” - Participant F
“attending conventions [...] a need to share other people's thoughts and ideas in a much
more structured way than I can facilitate on my own initiative [...] A manager is the one who
creates the prerequisites more than being an expert in the area, a good expert does not have
to be a good manager. Therefore, I do not think that the manager needs to be an expert but
rather just create the conditions, maybe bring in someone who is an expert and help you
facilitate meetings with the right person to get the right feedback” - Participant E
In conclusion, the most apparent findings on what enhances intrapreneurs could be found in
both their leader and in the intrapreneur´s environment. When discussing their leader´s
attributes, support and relationship, the intrapreneurs stated that tolerance for risk, trust,
availability, autonomy, continuous support in projects and a leader who set the stage for them,
was the most crucial in order for them to be creative and dare to take risks. This was also
supported by the report conducted by Blomkvist et al. (2017) where they state that the
intrapreneurs need support and acceptance from their organization and the management.
Discussing the environment, the intrapreneurs brought up both the mental and the physical
aspects of their surroundings. It was important for them to have an open-minded atmosphere
together with a positive and supporting team. This was also backed up by the report created by
Deloitte (2015) which stated that it is important for the intrapreneur to feel supported and have
35
an open culture. Talking about the group dynamics it was expressed by the intrapreneurs that a
diversified group that held the right competence was important in order to create ideas. Some
of the intrapreneurs also stated that meeting people outside the organization was important to
get new impressions and that it should be facilitated by their leader.
4.3.3 Inhibits intrapreneurial behavior
The interviewees addressed factors that made it difficult for them to go forward with their ideas,
and how a lack of support and some attributes held by leaders made them less innovative,
creative and prone to take risks. They also explained how some factors in their social
environment such as incivility, inhibited their ability to innovate. What was recurring and
shared by many of the interviewees will be presented in this section.
4.3.3.1 Leadership: attributes, lack of support, and relationship
A recurring factor that was expressed by the interviewees that made them hesitate taking risks
or acting on an idea, was when they did not get any positive and optimistic response or support
from their leader. They explained that when facing negative comments and lack of commitment
from their leader it made some of them feel unmotivated and they put their energy towards the
situation of not getting support rather than on developing their ideas.
“If you want a lot and work in an environment where you do not really have the support,
like, you do not have the leadership, you feel that you do not have someone who believes in
you in the way that you do yourself, as you believe in yourself, because I feel that I am
valuable and have something to contribute with, absolutely, but .. I think, ... it will be so
damn difficult, for both parties really, and then you get frustrated and the energy is directed
in the wrong direction” - Participant J
“It was very frustrating for the whole team, and it created a low mood, you could say, then
there were other ideas that we got to work on, so it wasn't that we stood completely still, but
that idea, many of us agreed that it could have such potential and then we got rejected, and
it lead to, well, it destroyed the spirit, the creative spirit.” - Participant D
When getting the feeling that their leader hesitated and did not encourage them to proceed with
their idea, some of the interviewees felt that they have to slow down and work at a slower pace
than they want to.
36
“If I have the boss on board then I go on but as soon as I notice that the boss starts to become
doubtful then I have to pull my own handbrake.” - Participant A
The interviewees expressed that they wanted support from leaders in some way, but they also
expressed that they did not want to be micromanaged and have too much interaction with their
leader, it was important for them to set their own terms. Leaders that interfered too much made
them lose motivation to be creative and innovative. This is in line with the article by Lumpkin
and Dees (1996), where they suggest that autonomy as well as letting employees freely manage
their time and be free from constraints, is important in order for intrapreneurial behavior to take
place.
“There is nothing worse than managers coming down and trying to help. [...] It's a bit like a
chess game, when I play chess and I know exactly what to do next, what move, and then my
boss comes and does my move for me, the first time it's okay "ah it might not be exactly as I
had imagined..." but when it comes to the third or fourth time I lose motivation”
- Participant C
“..there I also had the support and when you have that it leads to results, it is not possible
to get that far if you do not get the creative freedom to do anything” - Participant J
It was also evident that not getting help from their leader or having an organizational structure
that did not encourage to ask for help, was the reason for failing with ideas or not being able to
go all the way with an initiative. Several of the interviewees pointed out a lack of support when
discussing what may have been a reason for their failures.
“I would not associate it with not having enough help, but more that I have not sought help.
Which, in turn, may be a consequence of not having the structure needed to ask for help or
not feeling brave enough to ask for help” - Participant E
“But at other jobs where I have not been in the culture that mistakes can be learning, then it
has become more reprimands and promises, some problems, ah like that, you would have
wanted more conversation” - Participant J
37
This is also in line with Yariv and Galit (2011), Alpkan et al. (2010) and Duncan et al. (1988)
who all suggest that organizational support is of importance in order for intrapreneurial
behavior to exist.
4.3.3.2 Incivility
When discussing the environment with the interviewees, all of them referred to an event where
they either had seen or experienced incivility themselves within their workplace, not at every
organization but at least once in their career. They explained how it affected their ability to
perform and promote creative work. Some were not as bothered, however they said that it takes
the focus and energy from their primary work, solving problems and being creative. Just as
Porath and Erez (2007) discuss, rude behavior can take energy from the task and it can also
have a negative effect on creativity and risk-taking.
“if you are in a defensive position mentally it is very difficult to think from other perspectives,
you are then very focused on yourself, what you say and think and then it becomes difficult
to see from other perspectives which can be what promotes creativity” - Participant E
“I think it is very difficult because eh, partly because I am ashamed of the one who is nasty
and then I want to feel sorry for the person who is affected, and then you should come in as
a third party even though I do not have anything to do with it, or I just observe it and that is
even worse [...] it takes focus, and then I get a bad feeling and without a good feeling I will
not be creative.” - Participant G
Even though most of them stated that the uncivil behaviors came from other team members,
they verbalized that it is something that can occur from leaders not being present and engaging
enough. This is in line with Harold and Holtz (2015) who argue that a higher level of passive
leadership leads to higher experienced incivility.
“there were a lot of problems because the manager was not clear and present [...] we were
not a team, we shattered in all directions and bullying emerged and so much negativity” -
Participant A
38
“the worst is if there is a questionnaire and you come out with a result, so everyone sees
that, here we have a result, we know what to do, but they [the manager] does nothing” -
Participant D
Some interviewees who looked back at their earlier career days stated that incivility was harder
to handle when they were younger and it had a bigger effect on them back then. It made them
feel less confident in taking initiative as they were afraid how others would react. The
interviewees that have had less supportive and engaged leaders early on expressed it affected
them for a long period, some even still today.
“It's hard when you get lost like that and lose yourself and start to doubt yourself, it's hard,
it takes time to come back from it [...] I think managers generally don't really understand
how they actually affect people” - Participant J
“Yeah but you don't understand it then and there, because you just think you have performed
bad, it can be a few years later when you do the same thing again in another company, and
then it works much better, that [support] wasn't even there back then, it's no wonder I
couldn't perform better” - Participant G
In conclusion, the most apparent findings in what inhibits the intrapreneurs was found in both
their leader and their surroundings. When discussing their leaders, it was prominent that lack
of an optimistic response, lack of commitment and hesitation instead of encouragement would
make the intrapreneurs unmotivated. This made them focus their energy on trying to get the
support they need instead of pursuing their ideas. It was also important for the intrapreneurs to
not be micromanaged by their leader as this would make them less creative and make them
unmotivated. Discussing the intrapreneurs surroundings they all stated that they had
experienced incivility in their career. However, it was different how they all responded and
handled it, most of them stated that incivility took their energy from their work and into the
uncivil behaviors instead. The intrapreneurs expressed that although incivility came from their
peers, the lack of a present and engaging leader could have been the cause. A few of the
intrapreneurs also stated that having a less supportive and engaged leader early in their career
affected them more compared to later in their career and that the negative effect could linger
for a long time.
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5. Discussion
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how a passive leadership impacts intrapreneurial
behavior, and could therefore contribute to Moriano et al.´s (2011) work which focuses mainly
on the leadership that enhances intrapreneurial behavior and where the relation was studied
quantitatively. We did this by further investigating, with a qualitative study, how a destructive
form of leadership could affect intrapreneurs. The need for this research is stressed by many
researchers, Yariv and Galit (2017) stress the need for exploring the dark side of interrelations
with intrapreneurs and in the leadership research, passive leadership has been overlooked
according to Holtz and Hu (2017). The findings from our qualitative study suggest that
intrapreneurs need to be able to have a good relation to their leader where trust is essential in
order to dare taking risks, which is one of the key factors in intrapreneurial behavior. Holtz and
Hu (2017) conducted a study regarding how passive leadership affects cognition-based trust.
They found that employees have a lack of trust towards their leaders when they exhibit passive
leadership. This is also evident in the study by Adeel et al. (2018) where they could conclude
that a passive attitude from management could harm the trust from employees. Trust is one of
the reasons intrapreneurs dare to take risks and a passive leadership could harm the level of
trust between leaders and employees (Holtz & Hu, 2017; Adeel et al., 2018). In light of this, it
could be suggested that a passive leadership in relation to intrapreneurs would decrease the
level of intrapreneurial behavior in terms of level of risk tendency. In order for a leader to show
trust the interviewees pointed out the need of getting the responsibility to work freely and
autonomously which in result, made them more creative and innovative. As passive leadership
is characterized as a non-responsive leadership where leaders avoid taking any action and only
intervene when a problem becomes chronic and severe (Chénevert et al., 2013; DeRue et al.,
2011), it leads to employees being able to work rather free from distractions from their leader.
In line with this, it could be argued that a passive leadership could increase the level of
intrapreneurial behavior. However, it was also evident in our analysis that intrapreneurs want
their leader to be available to help and serve as a sounding board, and a tight dialogue was of
importance in order for them to believe in their ideas. In contrast a leader that is passive does
not give feedback and is unresponsive (Chenevert et al., 2013) and would hence not fulfill the
support the intrapreneurs need.
40
It was evident in our analysis that when the intrapreneurs faced a lack of commitment from
their leader it derived their focus away from coming up with ideas and they lost their creativity.
This would suggest that a passive leadership would have a negative impact on their level of
creativity and innovativeness as it would not provide them with encouragement through a tight
dialogue. It was also evident in our case study that the intrapreneurs were more likely to be
innovative when their leader helped them pursue their ideas, by being interested and fighting
for them. This would require the leader to first be involved in order to know what the
intrapreneurs are doing and then act in order to give it attention in the organization. Since a
passive leader does not take proactive decisions and only act when there is a problem, he would
not be able to give this kind of support and as the finding from Blomkvist et al. (2017) points
out, a no from any part of the company makes it difficult for the intrapreneur to continue with
the idea. This would argue for that a passive leadership inhibits the intrapreneurial behavior as
well as the effect from the intrapreneurial behavior, which according to the findings by
Antoncic and Hisrich (2003); Zahra and Covin (1995); Antoncic and Antoncic (2011) could
decrease the financial growth of the organization as it deteriorates the effect from
intrapreneurship.
Passive leadership can according to the study by Harold and Holtz (2015) lead to incivility in
the workplace; this was also evident in the study by Lee and Jensen (2014). Incivility in the
workplace could lead to negative effects in creativity, work performance and could end up with
high costs for the company. In the study by Yariv and Galit (2017) they investigated if incivility
has a negative impact on intrapreneurial behavior and could not make the conclusion that it was
the case. However, in our case study it was evident that intrapreneurial behavior did get a
negative effect from incivility. The interviewees pointed out how a negative work environment,
where they did not feel that they could talk freely without getting negative comments or where
they did not get support from their peers, they felt less creative and focused more on the uncivil
situation rather than creating new ideas. As passive leadership leads to incivility and incivility
in turn has a negative effect on intrapreneurial behavior, it would be arguable that a passive
leadership could inhibit intrapreneurial behavior.
The interviewees seemed to be more sensitive to incivility earlier in their careers, which made
them less likely to have the courage to present ideas and take risks, that would suggest that a
passive leadership has a more negative effect on intrapreneurial behavior when the intrapreneur
is younger or new in their career compared to later in their career. In light of that it would be
41
fair to suggest that avoiding passive leaders should be a greater concern when managing young
intrapreneurs.
The culture where they were more creative and prone to take risks was described as open and
allowing for mistakes, and it was important to work with people who complement each other
with their knowledge and competence. Harold and Holtz (2015) argue that a passive leader is
not good at managing the representation or reinforcement of appropriate behavior, which could
make it more difficult for a passive leader to create the environment required for intrapreneurial
behavior. In combination with them not being proactive and not acting, it would also be
reasonable to suggest that passive leaders would not take responsibility for creating thoughtful
working groups, as it would require them taking proactive decisions. It was also stressed by the
interviewees that it sometimes was necessary to bring in external expertise, in order for
creativity and innovation to thrive. This could argue for the need of an active leadership rather
than passive, as it needs to be facilitated by someone who has the mandate to make such a
decision, which normally is a leader or manager of some kind.
Providing tools and a physical environment that enables creative work which, according to the
interviewees seem to be of importance in order for intrapreneurial behavior to take place, would
also require the leader to act in advance which is not coherent with a passive leader.
Passive leaders usually deal with problems only when it is severe or even too late (Harold &
Holtz, 2015; Chênevert et al., 2013) the interviewees who had experienced this situation with a
leader not noticing that there is a problem until they approached the leader and it was too late,
explained that it made them lose their motivation to be creative and innovative. This effect from
passive leadership affects the intrapreneurial behavior in a negative sense. It was also apparent
from our case study that intrapreneurs find it difficult to engage in creative thinking and to
innovate when they have a lot of small recurring problems to solve. As a passive leader does
not act until a problem is very severe or has become chronic (Harold & Holtz, 2015; Chênevert
et al., 2013), it would suggest that the employees working under such a leader have a lot of
problems they have to deal with by themselves in the absence of their leader. It could therefore
be arguable that the individuals intrapreneurial behaviors would be inhibited in such situations.
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6. Conclusion and further research
Since the perspective from the intrapreneurs has been neglected (Neessen et al., 2019; Yariv &
Galit, 2017) and interrelations with intrapreneurs in a darker manner have been overlooked
(Yariv & Galit, 2017; Andersson & Pearson, 1999), and a passive leadership is an under
researched type of leadership (Holtz & Hu 2017). The intention of this thesis was to further
extend research about how leadership relates to intrapreneurs with the viewpoint from the
intrapreneurs. Our findings extend the work of Moriano et al. (2011) where they investigated
how leadership types relate to intrapreneurial behavior by focusing on passive leadership in
detail through a qualitative study instead of a quantitative. With the guidance of our theoretical
framework together with our case study we investigated what impact a passive leadership may
have on intrapreneurial behavior. Our interviewees expressed that their intrapreneurial behavior
was negatively impacted by the effects that current research suggest a passive leadership results
in. Our case study also showed that some of the attributes held by the interviewees former or
current leader that affected them negatively, were coherent with the attributes of a passive
leader. The effect these attributes lead to was expressed as something that inhibits their risk
tendency, creativity and innovativeness. In light of these findings it could be arguable that a
passive leadership inhibits the intrapreneurial behavior in intrapreneurs.
However, it seemed that a passive leadership can have a more apparent effect on intrapreneurs
in the earlier stages of their career. It could therefore be of interest to further investigate how
the importance of an active leadership differs between ages/phases in an intrapreneurs career.
From our case study it was evident that the intrapreneurs need to work autonomously, where a
passive leadership could have a positive effect, but they also explained that they need a
supportive and engaging leader. It could be interesting to further investigate where that line can
be drawn, how much leadership does an intrapreneur need before getting a claustrophobic
feeling? When does a supporting and engaging leadership start to inhibit intrapreneurial
behavior?
In our case study the majority of the intrapreneurs were negatively affected by incivility but
some of them also expressed that it sometimes motivated them to work harder or think
creatively in order to find a solution to the uncivil behavior. This seems to be a rather complex
43
and individual question and it could be something of interest to further investigate. What are
the factors that determine how much an intrapreneur gets affected by incivility?
The findings of this thesis could also be used as practical advice to managers who lead
intrapreneurs, and HR managers who recruit leaders to an organization where intrapreneurship
is of importance. The key takeaways that could help them is to make sure that the leaders should
not ignore listening to the ideas that are being presented to them. Leaders should not ignore
taking responsibility for creating an environment where it is okay to make mistakes, they should
be good at creating dynamic groups and be able to facilitate networking opportunities for the
intrapreneurs. The leaders should be mindful of how their engagement with the intrapreneurs
affect their ability to innovate, where having a tight dialogue would be helpful to create a good
relationship and build trust.
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7. Critical considerations and limitations
Because of the limitations in this thesis we have to acknowledge a few critical considerations
for our research. Due to time limitations we did not have the ability to find intrapreneurs that
we knew from beforehand have or have had passive leaders, therefore, the intrapreneurs was
the object of study. We instead looked at what affects their intrapreneurial behavior and put that
in relation to how the effects and characteristics of passive leadership acts in relation to the
individuals. If we could have found intrapreneurs that undeniably have had or have passive
leaders it could have given a more detailed and comprehensive analysis. Although Robinson
(2014) argues that a smaller sample size of 10 individuals is sufficient for an undergraduate
thesis, it should be emphasized that the data collected will not represent all intrapreneurs and
therefore, the results cannot generalize the opinions and thoughts of these individuals. It should
also be taken into consideration that the duration and nonrecurrence of each interview may limit
the results. A longer interview or as Polkinghorne (2005) suggests, having a follow-up
interview would enrichen the study, since one interview for one hour is not sufficient to achieve
rich enough data for the results. Polkinghorne (2005) also indicates that evidence of human
experiences have intrinsic limitations since it depends on the participants ability to reflect on
their own experiences, this should also be taken into consideration for our study. Furthermore,
we also have to acknowledge the interviews being conducted online instead of in a face to face
meeting. This might have impaired our ability to detect subtle expressions and body language
from the interviewees however, in order to minimize this as much as possible we used video
cameras during the interviews. Since we conducted the interviews in Swedish and at a later
stage translated the questions and answers to English, there is a chance that the interpretation
and meaning of the quotes might have been distorted. Therefore, when something was unclear,
we had the participant double check the quote to make sure that the meaning of the quote was
accurate before using it in the thesis.
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9. Appendices
9.1. Appendix 1: Interview Formalities
a) Study Information Sheet
Study Information Sheet
We are conducting a study regarding intrapreneurship and how leadership can affect intrapreneurial
behaviors in individuals. We therefore want to interview creative, innovative, risk-taking people from
all different types of business and positions. The study is being conducted by Vanessa Williamsson
and Sofie Bergman who both are doing their Bachelor's thesis at Stockholm Business School,
Stockholm University.
Your participation in this study is very valuable for us and we know that privacy is important.
Therefore, we will give you the option to opt out of any question you don’t want to answer. We will
also offer anonymity for both you and your company if wanted.
During the interview Vanessa Williamsson and Sofie Bergman will take notes and the interview will
be recorded. The recordings will only be available for Vanessa Williamsson and Sofie Bergman as
assistance later on in the writing process. If you wish to withdraw from the study any collected data
will be destroyed and left out of the thesis.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at Vanessa Williamsson [email protected] Sofie Bergman [email protected]
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b) Consent form
Consent for participation in a research interview concerning the study on intrapreneurial behavior. I agree to participate in the interview led by researchers Sofie Bergman and Vanessa Williamsson, Students at Stockholm University and I have read and understood the following terms:
1. I am aware of what the study entails and the purpose for this interview. 2. My questions regarding the study have been clarified and no uncertainties exist in regards
to the study. 3. I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I can withdraw at any time without
consequences. 4. I agree to being audio recorded during the interview and understand that what I say will be
analyzed and used for the purpose of the study. 5. I am aware that the data collected will be used in a written study and my words may be
quoted in the text. 6. I am aware that if I want to withdraw from the study any data collected will not be used
and also be destroyed. Date: _______________________________________ Name of participant:___________________________ Signature of participant:________________________
Request for anonymity: ⃞ the participant ⃞ the company ⃞ both
Name of researcher 1:__________________________
Signature of researcher 1:_______________________
Name of researcher 2:__________________________
Signature of researcher 2:_______________________
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c) Interview guide
Introduction
1. Is everything clear regarding the interview and our study? a. recording
2. Can you tell us a little about what you do at your workplace and what your position looks like?
a. manager b. team
Intrapreneurial Behavior - Confirm that the person is an intrapreneur
1. Are you contributing to new ideas and initiatives in your workplace? 2. How have you seen that any of your initiatives have led to an
improvement or change in the company? 3. When would you say you are most creative?
a. Reason
Organizational support: risk tolerance & failure - Support from manager - Risk - Failure
1. When you start a new initiative / project. What kind of support do you want from your manager?
a. Running into problems b. Something the manager lacks
2. Do you take risks in your work? (Describe risk) a. Needs b. Communication c. Hesitation
3. Have you ever experienced that you did something that didn't turn out so good?
a. Reason b. Support and engagement
Incivility affect intrapreneurs & how it is managed by leaders - Work environment
1. How does the work environment affect your ability to perform or be creative?
a. Bad work environment b. Seen incivility c. Experienced incivility
2. How do you want your manager to engage in order to increase workplace satisfaction?
a. If the manager does not engage
Preferred leadership 1. How would you say an ideal manager would look like, in order for you to contribute to as much innovation as possible?
a. Any final advice to give to managers who are leading creative people
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9.2. Appendix 2: Table for Extracted Quotes
Data extract Coded for
I close the door and block calls, close out the world and sometimes I use the board here at the back and just sketch (Participant A)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
If I want help, I take help, I don't want help, I don't take help." (Participant A)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
If my boss would be more engaged at my level then it would definitely be positive. It could be anything from writing down information about something or just coming in and sit down with a cup of coffee, or just something... I think it would be pretty good effects from that. That if he were just a little more present, I think it would be a completely different atmosphere in the office as well. (Participant A)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
there were a lot of problems because the manager was not clear and present [...] we were not a team, we shattered in all directions and bullying emerged and so much negativity (Participant A)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
If I have the boss on board then I go on but as soon as I notice that the boss starts to become doubtful then I have to pull my own handbrake (Participant A)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship
it inhibits, if I see this highway that "here I can drive as fast as possible" and then he [manager] starts to put out jersey barriers a little here and there. It does not stop me completely but it slows down my development or plan. So my tactics are always that I have to ground everything with facts, if I see like "here we have an opportunity" then I can't launch that idea directly but must do some research and comparisons, "is there even a possibility that this is going to be good?". As soon as I get the answer, for myself, I don't talk about it so much at this stage, but when I know that this can be good, that's when I start to talk with someone, ask them "What do you think about this?" (Participant A)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
if the manager had been more involved in his staff, for example I like the word competency inventory to know what everyone can do. If he had known what each individual in his staff could do, then he could have placed them in a project in a better way. If he had engaged more, it would have eliminated the risk of failure. (Participant A)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship
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I would have liked him to be involved at an early stage because if you have the boss with you, then he knows how I am going to "put out the fire" if anything than goes wrong, I do not need to defend myself in the same way, as to why that happened, because then he would already be involved. (Participant A)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
you then put energy on everything negative, on all the problems that exist, that she who sits a few office desks away is an idiot instead of thinking about how to solve a problem you have. So I definitely think that a bad work environment, that a bad mood at work can affect quite a lot. (Participant A)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
and with this in mind, I put all my energy into something that has nothing to do with creativity (Participant A)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
then maybe I can build on that information with a creative thought instead of getting information from someone I don't trust, then maybe I put more effort into questioning the person than building on the idea (Participant A)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
"if it is one or two that had been annoying, then it would not have mattered, I probably would have just avoided them, like screw them. But if I had noticed that a larger majority in the office acted that way, then I would have asked myself, "what am I doing wrong?" started asking "what is it really about?" (Participant A)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
must try to get the office to work in the same direction, it can be to have the same focus area and try to form small groups or allocate responsibilities so that the individuals feel that they are doing something and then you can create groups that may not be entirely obvious but that they are forced to interact with each other. (Participant A)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
I think a lot depends on new impressions, for me personally, one thing is to be challenged by something new. If I end up in a situation where it is repetitive, it is difficult to think new [...] it is new impressions that affect my creativity. For example, I find it very difficult when I sit here at home in the same room to come up with something new, I have to get out of here and do something else to get it. I'm not a person who can sit still in the same place to get that creativity started. (Participant B)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
Freedom under responsibility, I think that is a pretty good attitude as a manager to give to a subordinate. Which means that you give a little bit broader assignments then the freedom for the employee to solve the problem that exists, or the work task. In the way they think is best. (Participant B)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
I really think that building trust between each other is incredibly important [...] it is because of problems that has roused in the company I work for now and that I realized the importance of the problem with a lack of interpersonal relationship (Participant B)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
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An initial meeting where you go through and set up points that you can measure against later…. Strong commitment early and then release it completely, and then be able to come back to it later. (Participant B)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
I like taking risks. But not a foolish risk, that is important to say (Participant B)
Intrapreneurial behavior
being a little willing to take a side in a situation [...] so being able to take a position is what you want from your managers." (Participant B)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
What I did specifically, I just wrote down all the instances, I kept an excel sheet, documented a little, then I can go to my manager and say, hey this has happened, these dates and times, do something about it [ ...] to write it down is a bit like relieving it. Instead of going around thinking about it (Participant B)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
Having good colleagues is incredibly important, that you sit in close proximity with people you want to be in close proximity with, you want to work with. I think that is incredibly important. If you sit next to some idiot, it becomes difficult to be creative, it bothers. (Participant B)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
A manager who is very innovative or creative himself, a role model basically, you must be able to look up to a person who is above you (Participant B)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
Our boss is a person I look down on, it's a person I don't respect [...] That means I never go to her, I'm not inspired by her, she gives me nothing, she just drains." -Participant B
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
Of course, I do not want the boss to not to care at all [...] you should have a well working relationship. (Participant B)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
...currently working more internally with business development, innovation and product development (Participant C)
Intrapreneurial behavior
Usually, creativity usually starts somewhere in a demarcation, "what is the focus we should have?" (Participant C)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
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What matters most is actually, quite a lot, the physical environment it's like a lot with what tools, what environment you are in. (Participant C)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
a tight dialogue [...] as well as an openness and trust in each other (Participant C)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
To have an open-minded culture and to dare to speak your mind is very important and especially if you do understand this when working with things that are creative and exploratory where you do not know in the end where you will actually land (Participant C)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
"Many times I have taken help from my boss to get some power in things, get things to go faster or be prioritized or actually to get them to put their foot down, so I would say is a collaboration with my boss. (Participant C)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
There is nothing worse than managers coming down and trying to help. [...] It's a bit like a chess game, when I play chess and I know exactly what to do next, what move, and then my boss comes and does my move for me, the first time it's okay "ah it might not be exactly as I had imagined..." but when it comes to the third or fourth time I lose motivation. (Participant C)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship
I've had very few managers who I can actually learn something from [...] and it's pretty uninspiring to me, I want to do good things and want to learn something from those around me. (Participant C)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
I have been very mindful with my boss and those around me, to work with confidence and psychological safety. So we try to take time off once a month when hiring an external facilitator, to have like a half day to work with group dynamics. How to become more efficient, how can we trust each other more, create a better flow [...] it creates a sense of security. (Participant C)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
I would say more knowledge than commitment, definitely being invested in things really, but to understand you have to have some knowledge otherwise it is like working blindly, so I would say a combination of knowledge and commitment. (Participant C)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
56
I think it affects me quite little, but it is also because I have worked in so many different situations with so many different parts so it's something you have, like, learned to build up, not to be so affected, but then it is depending on the situation and my general state that day, if you have it rough outside work and have problems with personal things, clearly you are more affected by your work environment. (Participant C)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
then the question is whether you were treated so badly or if you were a little more insecure and actually you did a bigger thing of it than it actually was (Participant C)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
I think it's because you did not invest in the cultural part, actually creating the right cultural conditions, the right environment, how to actually behave towards each other, I often talk about some type of" Human OS "a human operating system, the soft values, how do we want to treat each other and be towards each other, the "how" is something you have to spend more time on. It is in the cultural part that most often the most important things come from, especially the creative bit, the cultural bit is alpha and omega, to really achieve those things. So more commitment to the culture, then how to go about it? Show how we treat each other, show what we value especially. Those things, how to treat each other especially. (Participant C)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
The most important part I would say is facilitation, how to facilitate things, how much is prepared, what is it we are going through. Have designed tools in place, and then I do not mean that you take a card from some kind of play box but rather that you have thought it through, what are we going to accomplish with the day and actually motivate those parts. (Participant C)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
It is about showing confidence, to back one another up, I have had managers that I resigned from immediately afterwards when I have set the conditions for how things should be and predict the future what happens if we do follow those conditions, and then when things went like this, which I predicted but then still got the blame for and then I can't stay. So trusting each other is most important. (Participant C)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
There are experts in all sorts of areas, and it's totally okay for anyone to contact anyone and ask for help [within the company], and this is where you meet, as well as at different levels and between different knowledge centers, it does, of course. leads to innovation any time, and you come up with your ideas, it's a very good thing (Participant D)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
I work with product development, that's my career path, very much product development (Participant D)
Intrapreneurial behavior
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I think it is good if the boss lets go of you, if he trusts me, it feels good to me, then as I said, to show interest is good. (Participant D)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
they should not go in and micromanage, that is not good (Participant D)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship
It was very frustrating for the whole team, and it created a low mood, you could say, then there were other ideas that we got to work on, so it wasn't that we stood completely still, but that idea, many of us agreed that it could have such potential and then we got rejected, and it lead to, well, it destroyed the spirit, the creative spirit (Participant D)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship
But it's hard to judge how, really, I know that when you meet more people, you get more ideas. Usually? (Participant D)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
If I come up with an idea for a colleague, "I've been thinking about this one thing, do you think it could work?" And he replies "it will never work" or "we have tried it before", or things like that, frustrating comments, then creativity dies completely (Participant D)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
yes, but I handle it better today, absolutely, I've learned [...] there are probably several things, partly you get used to it, you become confident, more confident in your own decisions, your own feeling as well, your own judgment, but then it is also, I think I think I learned to read other people better, you understand like "ah he is a guy, who has difficulties accepting new ideas and that's why he responds to it that way", well, then I don't have to think about it too much, I can try to meet him at his level, if I can, or I just ignore it (Participant D)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
you still have a period of I would guess 1.5 years where you are still prepared to fight in the headwind and try to win over some of the bull heads, or, like, try to change to the better, maybe use it as fuel for my creativity instead of kill it.... but after this time it dies. I have seen, very clearly after 1.5-2 years that there are very many who give up after that time, if you do not get the space, the confirmation you need (Participant D)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
the worst is if there is a questionnaire and you come out with a result, so everyone sees that, here we have a result, we know what to do, but they [the manager] does nothing (Participant D)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
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A good example is a group of circus acrobats, who throw themselves into each other's arms on cords and such...who dares to make the coolest tricks? Those who have a safety net or those who do not have a safety net? Of course, it is those who have a safety net [...] people who encourage you instead, "it was still a good job, if you had never tried, we would never have known if it works or not”, if that kind of social safety nets are there you dare more. (Participant D)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
the most important thing is that he lets me be free, that when I have my ideas I get to work with them, and that you have a clue on how much money you get to spend, what you can and can't do in any general terms so you don't have to ask every time for permission. It's a person who is interested in what I do, without getting too deeply involved, but still be involved, seeing how it goes, you have problems, you can come up with solutions, but not that you go in and micromanage (Participant D)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
...that's one of my biggest selling points, when I am trying to sell myself as a worker, to be kind of an ideas man, but also in a proactive way take advantage of the ideas that exist and connect well with the organization, to push them forward (Participant E)
Intrapreneurial behavior
Working from home has given more time to see problems, to think about what structures work and which doesn’t. I think that the opportunity to have fewer meetings and more time between meetings, meet more companies and what I notice is that the combination of being able to meet digitally means that you have more time left to be able to analyze and think about what they do and what we do, which creates opportunities to be more creative. (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
My manager that I have today is very hands off [...] to let the employees manage their own time to a bigger extent, I would say is a catalyst for more innovative thoughts and ideas (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
attending conventions [...] a need to share other people's thoughts and ideas in a much more structured way than I can facilitate on my own initiative [...] A manager is the one who creates the prerequisites more than being an expert in the area, a good expert does not have to be a good manager. Therefore, I do not think that the manager needs to be an expert but rather just create the conditions, maybe bring in someone who is an expert and help you facilitate meetings with the right person to get the right feedback (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
Support gradually is something that I appreciate and above all, to be able to discuss ideas and thoughts (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
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Not intervene but would definitely like to have them available in a way that I do not feel I need support, but that you have the sounding board to discuss the needs or the problem that is, in many cases the problem is solved just talking about them (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
I think a very good way for a manager to do that is status meetings, have a clear set aside time where we say that, this time is repeated every week and that you discuss whether you have something or not, you talk, then there is a clear platform to put up and build trust (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
I would say that I rather take a risk that could fall pretty hard rather than not try at all (Participant E)
Intrapreneurial behavior
What I think is important is to know that your leader has your back and to know that the person will at least try to stand by me, even if I was wrong. That I'm sure that the person supports me, [...] doing a quality check on everything you do is why you need time with the leader and to be able to have them as a sounding board (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
to meet others and hear their thoughts [...] that when you hear problems from other perspectives, and it does not have to be that you have to develop their particular idea but that you hear something and interpret it in some way and maybe look at it from a completely different perspective (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
It is important that if you think this is perfect and can go out to the customer directly, then you should really hold back and work even more through this clear structure and process that exists, to promote more innovation. (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
If a manager sees a clear trend that some type of competence always seems to be needed in his employees, then I would definitely say that it takes proactivity, striving to find the kind of gap in the process or structure that can be filled with expertise and competence. (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
I would not associate it with not having enough help, but more that I have not sought help. Which, in turn, may be a consequence of not having the structure needed to ask for help or not feeling brave enough to ask for help (Participant E)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship
you have to make mistakes but maybe early in the process, to have such a culture, then you might dare to ask for help and maybe to a manager other than your own and say "this I would need from you" and then if you might have been wrong until now and what was asked was completely crazy then it should not be met with "oh you are so incompetent, I will tell your boss" but then it should be more "ah i understand but I think you may have thought a little wrong so far, so here's how to fix it (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
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I strongly believe that both the physical and mental environment are like vital components for being creative, the mental, it is a lot between employees, if you dare to talk about things, how creative are other employees, is it a discussion where everyone is very creative then you become creative yourself and get caught up in the same processes. Otherwise, you can hire external people who may be able to help with creativity (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
Being able to move around and have common meeting places where you can meet spontaneously is, after all, super important. There are such case studies, Apple's new office is completely built around creating these meeting points that you will encounter people in these places so that then more creativity and innovation will be created at those hubs (Participant E)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
Now that I think about it, I probably haven't reflected on it before, but when talking creativity and how people talk, it has a HUGE impact on that kind of activity. A hostile environment is an environment where you are definitely not creative (Participant E)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
that's my guess, if you are in a defensive position mentally it is very difficult to think from other perspectives, you are then very focused on yourself, what you say and think and then it becomes difficult to see from other perspectives which can be what promotes creativity (Participant E)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
You should have the same clear goals and high ceilings, so you are able to discuss things with one and other, then tons of ideas will come up (Participant F)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
But having them in the process is a very important part and then the question is like this; who should you incorporate into the process and is that the person who can say no in the end. Whoever has the mandate to say no is the person who must be in the decision group (Participant F)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
I am very risk-taking as a person in general (Participant F) Intrapreneurial behavior If I had completely free hands, which is perhaps lucky that I do not have, then it would have derailed here a long time ago [...] the management that we have, they make sure to guide it right, so that we take the right initiative (Participant F)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
A big room here where we sit and work, the walls are covered with whiteboards, you can always get things up, you can test things, or draw things, write things, it's more about having the right kind of equipment in place when you need it too, but there is also an environment that needs to be inspiring, which is why we also have a shared office space, right in the middle of the city, and there it is an environment for inspiration (Participant F)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
there is an environment to meet people outside the bank, so you get different perspectives and other ideas, be able to talk to a non-banker at the coffee machine, and say what do you do? Or what is your relationship with banks? And get other insights, then inspiration and creativity will come from it (Participant F)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
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It is very much about supporting and understanding (Participant F)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
It can be both and, sometimes I can be more motivated by that like, damn I'm going to prove to this old man or old lady that they are wrong (Participant F)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
It can be both beneficial and hindering many times, but it is really about daring to take the next step if you really believe in it, and it is not easy if you are a new employee or if you feel you are youngest in the group or for some reason like; "why am I worth listening to?", you might not have been able to justify it for yourself either yet (Participant F)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
that is when you feel free, although you feel that you have very clear outer frames, you know what to relate to, you know the big picture, then that you are released, and that you feel support, especially I feel that it is okay to make mistakes [...] it's a high ceiling, and that one can be straight and clear with communication and criticism [...] preferably that you need the complement, you need someone who has other qualities, be able to have a person who is a little calmer, steady, thoughtful, straight, clear, confident so there are all individuals in the group (Participant G)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
you get them different angles are very valuable in a project, it may be something that I do not understand at all, aha this is not very given, as I feel that I may have greater strength and it also makes me a more creative person (Participant G)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
responsive to it, bad destructive behaviors within the group, because it can destroy a lot and it destroys everyone's self-confidence (Participant G)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
everyone should have good self-confidence, it is important in a group that everyone feels needed, everyone makes you feel you are doing a good job, is all basic things, if you feel normal then you are happy and then you also do a good job (Participant G)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
it is more of a feeling, that you feel that the manager is there, and have control, you do not want a flaky or like, I would not be a good boss, because I would be just too spasmodic, like or it would not be.., a manager should be there, do what you ask for, more like a safe base as well (Participant G)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
I don't expect a manager to solve everything, a manager just tells me which way to go, “go there and then you come to me if there is a problem, if you don't get the help you need there, come to me again”, no more than that (Participant G)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
it is better that you are a leader and that you lack some other skills (Participant G)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
62
If there is something that the manager is not so involved in, then it can also suffice for me to just activate the manager, saying that “now I do this, what do you think?” And that, then it is perfectly okay that he has not thought about it before, but that he do it now, that he is there (Participant G)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
Mostly that you feel that you have ended up with competent people who have are in the right place and have the right job [...] you always have to trust your colleagues, I can't question someone who calculated all the numbers or something, then I have to trust it (Participant G)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
then it is good that you feel that you are a good team and that you have personal relationships as well, with those you work with, it makes me work better, because then, then I feel that I can read signals, if you do not know someone at all then you become much more cautious, when you can read the surroundings, it promotes you to come up with good ideas (Participant G)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
when you feel alone, that I did not get the support of someone else, and then it is not just the boss but that you maybe yeah .. and then you have encountered someone like "this will not work, this will not hold, that will not… ”if there is any such thing then I crash down, it makes me yeah .. I throw the whole idea in the trash, it is very dangerous (Participant G)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
when you get older, you become more confident in yourself and you know that, there are idiots, there are a lot of idiots, you can only learn to handle them [...] somehow you do, but it is as with everything, with self-confidence, is, in the beginning [...] it was much more difficult when I was young and newly graduated (Participant G)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
Yeah but you don't understand it then and there, because you just think you have performed bad, it can be a few years later when you do the same thing again in another company, and then it works much better, that [support] wasn't even there back then, it's no wonder I couldn't perform better (Participant G)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship
open landscapes are very good, you keep track at many and many different things, and I think it's a little nice feeling that you have it (Participant G)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
I think it is very difficult because eh, partly because I am ashamed of the one who is nasty and then I want to feel sorry for the person who is affected, and then you should come in as a third party even though I do not have anything to do with it, or I just observe it and that is even worse [...] it takes focus, and then I get a bad feeling and without a good feeling I will not be creative (Participant G)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
63
in the best of all worlds, I would have had a manager who stepped in and said that this is not okay, got a hold of the situation (Participant G)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
Among other things, yes, exactly, both the introduction of new routines, and efficiency improvements, if we will work with a new system here, work in a different way with the setup of colleagues and skills have changed due to reorganization or similar, then we need to implement what we do and then I have been involved and then made sure that people can then continue on it so that everyone is not dependent on me (Participant H)
Intrapreneurial behavior
when you are passionate about what you do and have fun with what you work with, but also when you sit in a room with people who are a lot much smarter than yourself, then you are forced to send out these tentacles and are forced to open themselves up in another way, become receptive because you cannot do anything about what is being discussed or you can trust that the others in the room can do much more, that they are smart and have attacked it in another way that makes you feel that here I have something to learn, it is mainly then that I feel creative (Participant H)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
the manager must be knowledgeable in areas to be able to show that you understand the employee's everyday life and that you understand the condition and challenges they have, you do not need to understand it in depth but you can form an idea of it (Participant H)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
if my manager thinks there is a need then I want my manager to take the fight to take it high to higher level and resolve resources [...] support, understanding but also honesty (Participant H)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
sometimes campaign our case in other contexts just to set the stage so we can do our job more efficiently (Participant H)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
The best way you can be a really great manager is to actually set the target image, provide the tools needed, set the stage and then stay away and support where needed. [...] to support when I need the drive. It almost becomes a bit like parent-child relationship, you want the security, the support and the love, the confidence, the tools [...] I like to try my own wings and when I believe in something I just want you to believe me and support me. (Participant H)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
I think that if a manager should lack the interest in what we do or insight into what we do also lack, in lack of better words, the balls for being able to stand up for us in situations where we need to push through or kick in doors (Participant H)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
64
a lot of times it is about the individual dialogue between me and my manager where you feel the trust, but also that you see in practice that the manager actually lives up to what the manager says. And then you notice that if someone in the team did something, like it was a "super fail" [...] That you have a learning culture, a learning mentality where all we do is we learn not doing mistakes. I also think that the risk propensity even for those who may not dare to take as much risk, which is not like me, increases, or that they dare [...] I believe a learning culture, an understanding culture, an understanding manager and being accepting of failure (Participant H)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
it's super important, not necessarily be friends with everyone, but I think you have to work actively in some way, just like working with a relationship, to keep things alive and to build relationships with your colleagues in a way so you are more like a team (Participant H)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
most important from the manager's side is that you are responsive, insightful, supportive, that you actually not only listen to "ah you want to do this, fun" but also ask the question "why do you want to do this?" (Participant H)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
especially I think because it was such an encouraging and exciting part of it and it is very important to me, to get motivation to not only hear when things go bad but also get encouragement as well [...] especially from managers (Participant I)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
have time, I think, to be a little creative and when it is like you get a lot of responsibility and confidence to just go, that no one is watching and looking over your shoulder all the time as well. (Participant I)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
if there is a fire in all the projects that I'm handling, then I do not think for a second how we can improve the company "this we should do" it does not happen (Participant I)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship
kind of atmosphere at work I would say, it also affects a lot (Participant I)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
But if it is initiatives to improve internally then it is more to have confidence in their manager (Participant I)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
That people are positive towards it and that it is welcomed to come up with ideas (Participant I)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
That there are people, there is an exchange where you complement each other, and I have felt very much that I am good at some stuff and others in my team are good at other stuff which makes it easy to proceed and discuss things (Participant I)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
65
I am very prone to take initiative, be creative, I feel that I have the ability to connect many things, see the bigger picture, see things maybe others do not see or grasp things that fall between the chairs (Participant J)
Intrapreneurial behavior
..there I also had the support and when you have that it leads to results, it is not possible to get that far if you do not get the creative freedom to to anything (Participant J)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
I am the most creative when I have a lot of freedom [...] I need to be able to build my own way of working, how are we getting there, who do we need on board etc. I need to be able to figure that out on my own, that is when an intrapreneur is at their best (Participant J)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship Sub-theme: Environment
then the working environment is very important to me, it has been a challenge on xxx, they are old boring premises from the 60s, it is very difficult (Participant J)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
I gather a lot of inspiration and thoughts from the environment that I am in, people that I see, I love to just sit in cafes and like to look at people, I do not know what is going on in the brain but something happens, be out and go on walks or…. Everything that doesn't include having to be in an office, I think. (Participant J)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
It is incredibly important that this culture exists that it is really high ceilings for real (Participant J)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Environment
In that sense he was very good as my manager, to clear the obstacles that put a stop for me and use his contacts. I think it is also important that when you are the manager of a intrapreneur that you do not let the administration work weigh down, because it is not there the intrapreneur should work, that person should create (Participant J)
Theme: Enhances Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, support and relationship
I got burned out of course hehe, it's a kind of negative, if you are a type of person who wants a lot and work in an environment where you don't really have the support, like, you don't have the leadership, you feel you don't have someone who believes in you the way that you do yourself, as you believe in yourself, because I feel that I am valuable and have something to contribute with absolutely, but .. I think, ... ..it will be damn difficult as well, for both parties really, and if you become frustrated the energy is directed in the wrong direction (Participant J)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
there will be no focus on doing a good job and being creative and doing good things, it is more about internal politics [...] the energy is only spent on managing internal politics, the focus is not on solving the problems (Participant J)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
66
you feel that you do not have the support, that you do not fit in, all those things, it becomes very difficult. I have not been myself at such workplaces, I have lost who I am, my soul, why I even work there and values have started to chafe too (Participant J)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Incivility
It's hard when you get lost like that and lose yourself and start to doubt yourself, it's hard, it takes time to come back from it [...] I think managers generally don't really understand how they actually affect people (Participant J)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility
If you want a lot and work in an environment where you do not really have the support, like, you do not have the leadership, you feel that you do not have someone who believes in you in the way that you do yourself, as you believe in yourself, because I feel that I am valuable and have something to contribute with, absolutely, but .. I think, ... it will be so damn difficult, for both parties really, and then you get frustrated and the energy is directed in the wrong direction (Participant J)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship
But at other jobs where I have not been in the culture that mistakes can be learning, then it has become more reprimands and promises, some problems, ah like that, you would have wanted more conversation (Participant J)
Theme: Inhibits Sub-theme: Leadership attributes, lack of support, and relationship Sub-theme: Incivility