Entrepreneurship in Established Organizations: The Case of the Public Sector

The potential role of entrepreneurship in public sector organizations is explored. Entrepreneurship is conceptualized as a manageable process with underlying dimensions of innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness. Unique characteristics of the public sector environment are examined, and a number of core principles and concepts from entrepreneurship are applied. Arguments against the application of these concepts are addressed. Results are reported of a survey of 152 public sector managers in South Africa. The findings suggest that these managers find entrepreneurship to be a salient concept for their organizations, and that the key obstacles to its implementation are very similar to those reported by corporate managers. Implications are drawn for theory and practice, and a number of suggestions are made for further research.

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