The effects of employees’ perception of high involvement

THE EFFECT OF HIWPS ON INTRAPRENEURIAL BEHAVIOR

The effects of employees’ perception of high involvement work

practices and country on intrapreneurial behavior

Author: Nathalie Pingel

SNR: 2033268

Institute Tilburg University

Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Master Human Resource Studies

Supervisor Dr. W. M. M. Altink-van den Berg

Dr. B. Kroon

Project period March 2019 - January 2020

Project theme Intrapreneurship

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Abstract

In a fast changing market, organizations need to generate new ideas quickly to maintain

competitive advantage. In order to do so, the focus has shifted on the employee to show

intrapreneurial behavior. One way to foster this behavior is by implementing HR practices

signaling the desired behavior. However, using a bundle of HR practices to foster intrapreneurial

behavior has remained a relatively underdeveloped topic in literature. Therefore this paper strived

to investigate the relation between high involvement work practices (HIWPs) and intrapreneurial

behavior. In addition, the differences of the effects of HIWPs and IB between two countries

Germany and the Netherlands were investigated. This paper draws on the social exchange theory,

expectancy theory and the institutional and sociocultural theory to test the model. This paper

found that HIWPs indeed predict the intrapreneurial behavior of employees and that this effect

differs by country. Not all individual practices were found to have an impact on intrapreneurial

behavior and results showed that it is better to focus on practices that do have an impact rather

than implementing a bundle of practices.

Keywords: Intrapreneurship, Intrapreneurial behavior, Innovation, Human capital, HR

practices, High involvement work practices, Country

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1. Introduction

Due to the fast-changing world, the competitive environment and the need to adapt

processes quickly, firms have been looking for ways to maintain competitive advantage (Blanka,

2018). Human capital is often seen as the potential and available source for added value and long-

term investment (Wunderer, 2001). Owning human capital that is equipped with information and

knowledge and has the opportunity to participate in decision making can lead to the creation of

competitive advantage and innovation. Particular interest has therefore turned towards fostering

innovative behavior under the umbrella term of intrapreneurship. It stands for actions initiated by

employees undertaking new and profitable business activities within their organization such as

generating new products or processes (Bosma et al., 2010; Parker, 2011). Intrapreneurial

behavior (IB) is supposed to positively influence renewal, innovation, risk taking and

organizational growth which are all key components for organizational success and performance

in today’s world (Veenker et al., 2008; Edú Valsania et al., 2016).

It has been said that the lack of IB within German organizations is the reason for Germany

staying behind and losing its advantage in the global market (Prange, 2016). In order to enhance

IB and therefore to generate new ideas within an organization, a supportive environment needs to

be created. Previous research has examined factors that may affect the tendency of individuals to

engage in intrapreneurial activities. These include human resources (HR) practices and situational

factors such as the contextual environment (Stull & Singh, 2005). In regards to this, an increasing

interest has turned towards the contribution of HR practices to encourage and foster the desired

behaviors to enhance organizational performance and innovation (Hayton et al., 2002). However,

up to now, studies have mainly focused on isolated HR practices as antecedents to IB rather than

a set of HR practices, for instance the High Involvement Work Practices (HIWPs) (Ma Prieto &

Pilar Pérez-Santana, 2014). HIWPs refer to a bundle of practices seeking to increase

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organizational performance by motivating employees, enhancing their skills, empowering

employees in decision making and sharing information (Rana, 2015). However, research has

shown that HR practices might be perceived differently and need to be adapted to the

environment. Therefore, this study includes Germany and the Netherlands to assess the

universality of the HIWPs and their influence on IB and how the variable country might affect

HIWPs and IB in the first place. Both countries have been chosen as the Netherlands have shown

a higher score of IB than Germany while showing similar patterns in social and economic

characteristics (Hemerijck, et al., 2000; Bosma et al., 2016).

In order to gain deeper insights on how to encourage IB within employees to support

organizations in the competitive market, this research aims to answer the following research

questions. What is the effect of high involvement work practices on intrapreneurial behavior of

employees? And to what extent does the country affect the work practices or intrapreneurial

behavior? Can a difference between Germany and the Netherlands be portrayed?

From a theoretical perspective, the contribution of this research is to firstly, gain deeper

insights on the direct relationship between (combined) HIWPs and IB; and secondly, to see

whether contextual factors such as the country can have an effect on those variables. For this

purpose we look at the social exchange theory to address the link between HR practices and IB.

2. Theoretical background

The overarching theory behind this research is based on HIWPs. HIWPs have been found

to positively influence behaviors such as employee engagement and enhanced performance

(Konrad, 2006). Lawler and colleagues (1986) found four principles that ensure the efficiency of

HIWPs: the power to make decisions, trainings to enhance knowledge and skills, shared

information across the unit and appropriate rewards. Positive outcomes such as enhanced

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performance can be explained with the social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) which states that

employees who perceive a supportive environment will act proactively and innovatively to

further benefit the organization (Podsakoff & MacKenzie, 1997). Furthermore it can be argued

that, HIWPs and IB are influenced by the country that the organization and employees are

situated in. This can be explained by the institutional and sociocultural theory (see 2.3).

2.1 Intrapreneurial behavior

Intrapreneurship can be defined as actions initiated by employees to undertake new and

profitable business activities within organizations such as the development of new products or

services (Bosma et al., 2010). In previous research, different kinds of definitions of

intrapreneurship have been recognized. The common underlying theme of all forms of

intrapreneurship is innovation and its use to generate competitive advantage (Heinonen &

Korvela, 2003). Several studies have shown that intrapreneurial behavior (IB) is positively

associated with organizational performance and growth. Even though intrapreneurship seems to

be beneficial for the organization, ―the decision to opt for intrapreneurship remains an individual

and personal decision as this is unlikely to be a part of a standard job description‖ (Rigtering &

Weitzel, 2013, p. 8). Therefore, organizations need an environment that encourages and

facilitates IB. Previous research has examined factors that affect the tendency of individuals to

engage in intrapreneurial activities. These include resources such as human resources practices

and situational factors including the contextual environment (Stull & Singh, 2005).

In this study, the definition of intrapreneurship follows the definition commonly used in

literature and is defined as the multidimensional overarching concept consisting of three

behavioral dimensions performed by individuals: risk-taking, innovation and proactiveness

(Miller, 1983; Stull & Singh, 2005; Edú Valsania et al., 2016). Firstly, risk-taking is defined as

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behaviors and actions which break established orders and process without knowing what the

outcome will look like (Covin & Slevin, 1991; Preenen et al., 2014). Secondly, innovation refers

to the employees experimenting and developing new concepts, services or processes (Edú

Valsania et al., 2016). Lastly, proactiveness reflects the process of acting in anticipation of future

challenges, needs or changes that may lead to new opportunities (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996). The

current research has not yet defined whether all sub dimensions need to be present in order to

show IB. Therefore, for our study we adhere to the definition by Miller (1983) that IB combines

all three sub dimensions, this means that only the sum score of all three individual dimensions is

of interest. This indicates that two dimensions may show high scores while the third shows a low

score, this behavior is still considered IB.

2.2 HIWPs and IB

In recent years a growing interest towards HR practices as an antecedent to

intrapreneurship has evolved as it has been argued that intrapreneurship can occur when HR

practices are coordinated accordingly (Özdemirci & Behram, 2014). Following previous research

based on the theory of the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) (Barney, 1991), human capital

is an important asset and factor in creating and sustaining competitive advantage by showing

innovative behavior (Ma Prieto & Pilar Pérez-Santana, 2014). The RBV considers internal

resources which are valuable, rare, costly to imitate and non-substitutable to be the reason for

competitive advantage. Therefore, human capital is often seen as a potential source for added

value and long-term investment (Wunderer, 2001). Consequently, human resource practices are

the primary means by which organizations can influence and shape the skills, attitudes, and

behavior of individuals to achieve organizational goals (Chen & Huang, 2009). The RBV

indicates that organizations should invest in their employees; however, employees also need to

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acknowledge the effort of their employer. This link is grounded in the social exchange theory

first proposed by Blau (1964). It states that employees perceive HR practices as signals of their

organization showing which behaviors are valued and employees will act according to that.

Moreover, Jackson et al. (1989) introduced a framework that links the organizations competitive

strategy with the HR strategy. It refers to the rationale that different employee role behaviors can

be achieved by a different set of HR practices (Camps & Luna-Arocas, 2009). Therefore, in order

to create an environment that encourages IB, research proposed to introduce a specialized human

resource management (HRM) system to aid and stimulate the stated characteristics (Twomey &

Harris, 2000; Özdemirci & Behram, 2014; Morris & Jones, 1993).

In line with this, researchers such as Schuler (1986) argue that intrapreneurship can be

impelled by creating a consistent set of particular HRM practices. Furthermore, authors such as

Hayton (2003) argue that IB is also an indicator of the effectiveness of a firm’s HRM practices

(Castrogiovanni et al., 2011). To foster innovative behavior and enhance performance within the

organization it is essential to understand that employees perform well when they are able to do so

(training possibilities and shared information), they have the motivation to do so (incentive

systems) and have been provided with the opportunities (employee participation) (Ma Prieto &

Pilar Pérez-Santana, 2014). These principles are grounded in the theory of the HIWPs established

by Lawler (1986) and parallel the rationale of the AMO framework initially proposed by Bailey

(1993). The AMO theory suggests that organizational interests are realized best by practices that

aim at employees’ ability, motivation and opportunity. In regards to this, the abilities are reflected

in the trainings and shared information, the motivation is reflected by compensation and

opportunity is reflected by employee participation and general work.

HIWPs are conceptualized as a set of interconnected and synergistic HR practices which

select, develop, retain and motivate the human capital to encourage collective behaviors towards

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achieving organizational goals (Camps & Luna-Arocas, 2009; Ma Prieto & Pilar Pérez-Santana,

2014). These consist of: compensation practices, trainings, employee participation in decisions

and shared information across the organization. The individual variables are seen as mutually

reinforcing as these HIWPs empower workers to make decisions, enhance the information and

knowledge to do so and lastly reward them (Boxal & Macky, 2009). Guthrie (2001) argues that

especially organizations that are looking to improve their performance and productivity should

opt for HIWPs. Focusing on HIWPs instead of individual practices and using the synergies of

combining practices could be a turning point for the performance of organizations and lead to

more positive results (Ma Prieto & Pilar Pérez-Santana, 2014).

The current state of research shows that HIWPs are mostly associated with employee

engagement and enhanced performance, but have not been tested to influence IB. Only individual

practices such as compensation and training have been shown to positively influence IB (Kuratko

et al., 1990; Schuler, 1986; Castrogiovann et al., 2011). The central idea behind our research is

based on the social exchange theory so that employees, who perceive that they are fairly

compensated, get offered training programs, are able to participate in the organization and receive

sufficient information will repay the organization with showing IB. Furthermore, employees

show more IB when they are content with all practices. However, employees may perceive HR

practices differently to what was intended, because individuals have been found to apply different

schemas in processing information related to HR (Wright & Nishii, 2013; Bos-Nehles &

Veenendaal, 2019). In this study, HIWPs are defined as proposed by Lawler consisting of

compensation, training, employee participation and information sharing.

H1 = The more positively perceived all HIWPs (compensation, training, information

sharing, employee participation) are, the more employees will show intrapreneurial behavior.

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In this research, we also consider the impact of individual HR practices to see if they have

a greater impact on IB than the bundle of HIWPs. The individual practices are described in the

following.

2.2.1 Compensation and IB

The influence of compensation practices on employee behavior has received the most

attention in research to date. Compensation is defined as providing monetary value to workers in

exchange for work performance. The compensation package is designed by each organization to

fit their strategy and the needs of their employees. For organizations, providing performance

oriented incentive compensation is the primary source to enhance employee motivation and

attract new employees (Delaney & Huselid, 1996). Chen and Huang (2009) showed that

recognizing individual and team accomplishments with compensation systems encourages

innovation and based on the social exchange theory, individuals may put more effort into their

behavior and activities if the compensation rewards the contribution adequately. The individual

perception of fair compensation therefore might lead to a sense of obligation to provide the

individual knowledge and show the desired behavior (Bos-Nehles & Veenendaal, 2019).

Moreover, researchers such as Hayton (2005) have pointed out that in order to encourage risk

taking, pay levels should be higher than average (Balkin et al., 2000). Following this approach,

more studies have shown that a compensation system can have an impact on innovative behavior

(Bos-Nehles & Veenendaal, 2019; Bysted & Jespersen, 2014). However, the research is mixed as

some researchers were able to find a negative effect of compensation (Bos-Nehles & Veenendaal,

2019). On the other hand, a study conducted in 1992 showed that employees ranked good wages

as the most important factor as a job reward (Wiley, 1997).

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In sum, compensation can either lead to increased IB or discourage IB by rewarding other

behaviors or not rewarding on appropriate levels (Madu & Urban, 2014). Nevertheless, here we

hypothesize that contentment with compensation can positively influence IB.

H2 = The more satisfied employees are with their compensation; the more employees will

show intrapreneurial behavior.

2.2.2 Training and IB

In order to promote IB within employees, organizations can guide their human capital

towards this behavior. This can be accomplished by constructing training practices to further

evolve the individuals’ competences and show possibilities to be innovative within the

organization (Kuratko et al., 1990; Castrogiovanni et al., 2011). Training is defined as official

and ongoing education activities within organizations designed to enhance employees’

performance (BusinessDictionary, 2019).

Following the social exchange theory, employees which are offered and experiencing

trainings can perceive them as an organization’s commitment towards their employees.

Accordingly, they subconsciously feel the need to reciprocate this behavior even though they

might not get formally rewarded (Bos-Nehles & Veenendaal, 2019). Furthermore, providing

training opportunities for employees will signal that the organization considers the employees to

be valuable and is willing to further invest in their development (Tremblay et al., 2010).

Moreover, in a fast changing world, training opportunities can be crucial for employees to adapt

to changing job demands and new technology and being able to respond to new challenges in

order to have the ability to stay innovative. Furthermore, these programs may include and further

promote characteristics that are vital for IB such as acceptance of change and the willingness to

take risks (Morris & Jones, 1993).

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However, evidence of the actual influence of training practices on innovative behavior has

been mixed as some researchers were unable to find a significant effect (Bos-Nehles &

Veenendaal, 2019. Nevertheless, based on social exchange arguments employees who perceive

training opportunities can be expected to understand this as an investment in themselves and the

need to show the desired behavior to bring value to the organization (Bos-Nehles & Veenendaal,

2019).

H3 = The more satisfied employees are with their training; the more employees will show

intrapreneurial behavior.

2.2.3 Employee participation and IB

Employee participation is defined as a process in which decision making and influencing

is shared among all members of an organization who are hierarchically unequal through

participative management techniques (Locke & Schweiger, 1979). It is argued that employees are

more likely to contribute to the organizations success, if they have the opportunity to participate

in decision making. This assumption is based on the expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964). This

theory states that an individual's motivation to increase his or her efforts depends on the outcome

and rewards of the selected behavior. Empowerment through employee participation is an

enabling process for employees to set higher performance goals (Conger & Kanungo, 1988).

Outcomes of employee participation therefore may include higher job satisfaction, higher

productivity levels and employee engagement (Bhatti & Qureshi, 2007).

Coch and French (1948) first studied employee participation in the workplace and

developed a model based on the idea that there is a direct link between employee involvement

and positive outcomes such as for example job satisfaction or productivity. Following this

approach, a study conducted by Rigtering and Weitzel (2013) suggests that high levels of

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participation gives employees control over their job as well as autonomy in the job which is

essential to perform IB. They were also able to find positive effects of employee participation on

innovative behavior. Bhatti and Qureshi (2007) argue that the most effective way to improve

organizational outcomes is to strive for shared goals between the employees and managers. This

can be achieved by encouraging workers to input suggestions for developing the vision and

mission of the organization, policies and practices which will result in improved communication

and satisfaction. The relation between IB and employee participation has yet to find a lot of

interest in literature, however, from the theoretical background and few findings it can be

hypothesized that participation opportunities can lead to IB.

H4 = The more satisfied employees are with their participation opportunities; the more

employees will show intrapreneurial behavior.

2.2.4 Information sharing and IB

Information sharing is defined as the process of adapting and formatting all types of

knowledge to make it accessible and comprehensible to all members of the organization (Haase

et al., 2014). Information in general is created by individuals and sharing is the progress of

transforming individual knowledge into organizational knowledge (Akhavan et al., 2015). The

sharing of organizational information and therefore open and transparent communication within

organizations has been found to be beneficial for innovation (Qin et al., 2012). In this research,

the focus is on information about and within the organization. The information is shared between

the top management and employees to ensure that employees are motivated to contribute

effectively to the organizations success (Konrad, 2006).

According to the organizational knowledge-creation theory, employees who are exposed to

new information through colleagues or the organization are more likely to reflect on their own

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practices while enhancing creativity to find new ways to work (Li & Sandino, 2018).

Furthermore, information sharing quality and quantity enables the transfer of knowledge and

information from individuals to the collective resulting in many benefits such as higher

competency overall by providing relevant data and active participation (Bontis et al., 2011;

Konrad, 2006; Franke & Shah, 2003; Chan, 2014). When managers share information more

transparently, employees are able to see the link between their actions and the performance of the

organization and can contribute to the organizations success more effectively (Konrad, 2006).

Even though there is only little research on the relation of IB and information sharing, several

studies were able to find a positive effect of information sharing on innovative behavior

(Akhavan et al., 2015; Bos-Nehles & Veenendaal, 2017; Yu et al., 2013). It can be expected that

high satisfaction with information sharing leads to higher levels of IB, because sharing is

supposed to stimulate support and may therefore lead to the willingness of employees to

contribute to the organizational goals.

H5 = The more satisfied employees are with the level of information sharing in their

organization; the more employees will show intrapreneurial behavior.

2.3 Country and IB

The tendency of certain countries to put forth entrepreneurs has been the start for

researchers to view countries as a determinant of intrapreneurship. A study by Shane et al. (1991)

showed that factors leading to new venture creations were determined by an interaction of gender

as well as nationality. Vygotsky, a soviet psychologist, has played an important role in

determining the variables that influence human behavior and actions. According to his

sociocultural theory the larger sociocultural context is viewed as a determinant of

entrepreneurship (Amit et al., 1993).

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Up to now, researchers have mainly ignored the influence of situational and contextual

factors such as the country on employee behavior. However, related research confirms an effect

of national culture on innovation and entrepreneurship (Sun, 2009; Waarts & Van Everdingen,

2005). This is grounded in the idea that national culture influences the organizational culture

which in turn influences the behavior of employees (Stephan & Uhlaner, 2010). A study by

Shane (1993) focused on cultural influences on national rates of innovation showed that nations

differ in their rates of innovation because of the cultural values of their citizens. For instance,

innovation rates are closely associated with uncertainty acceptance, lack of power distance and

lack of individualism. In these dimensions, Germany and the Netherlands show similar scores in

Power Distance (Germany: 35 out of 100 points; Netherlands: 38/100), but slight differences in

Individualism (Germany: 67/100; Netherlands: 80/100) and uncertainty avoidance (Germany:

65/100; Netherlands 53/100). Therefore, if organizations or countries wish to increase the

innovation rate, they need to change the attitudes of their employees or citizens. Furthermore,

Mueller and Thomas (2001) found that various cultures motivate individuals in different ways to

show certain behaviors which can be considered to influence IB. As mentioned before, Bosma et

al. (2016) have found that the IB is higher in the Netherlands compared to Germany (N: 5.4

percent, G: 3.5 percent). Even though there might be other factors playing a role in fostering IB,

the environment certainly has been found to play an important role.

H6 = Dutch employees show more intrapreneurial behavior than German employees.

2.4 Country and HIWPs

The relationship between country and HIWPs is based on the institutional theory.

According to the institutional theory, organizations are influenced by the societies in which they

operate in (Shane, 1993). The main idea of the institutional theory is that countries differ in their

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institutional characteristics and the individual organizational practices reflect this environment.

The institutional environment is composed of various types of institutions and can be

characterized by three pillars: regulatory reflecting laws and rules, cognitive reflecting society’s

shared social knowledge and normative reflecting the values and norms. The practices employed

by organizations are shaped by the institutional environment to fit the individual needs and

structures of the organization (Kostova, 1999).

In the light of globalization, HRM has evolved from a support function to a strategic

partner and is increasingly viewed as an essential component of the organization's overall

strategy. Some researchers even say that the HR department is the glue to keep the organization

together (Pudelko & Harzing, 2007). When looking closer at the individual HRM practices,

Newman and Nollen (1996) found that HRM and practices differ by national culture. Moreover,

Lockwood (2007) found that different countries focus on different HR practices that are

considered important. This is due to cultural idiosyncrasy, governmental regulations and policies,

cultural values or different managerial practices (Salk & Brannen, 2000; Boxall & Steeneveld,

1999; Ahmad & Schroeder; 2003).

In recent years a lot of research has looked at different HRM models in different countries

(Pudelko & Harzing, 2007; Brewster et al., 2007; Lazarova et al., 2008). For example, the

CRANET survey collects data from a wide range of countries on HRM. The data set from 2005

looks at the HR operating costs, which are 64% in the Netherlands and 41% in Germany of the

total operating costs. It also looks at the amount of money spent on training showing that German

organizations spent 2.26% of the annual payroll costs on training and development while Dutch

organizations spent 3.09%. When comparing the two countries based on the HR costs, it becomes

clear that Dutch organizations spend more money on their employees than German organization

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do. It can be hypothesized that less investments in HR practices will show in less satisfaction of

HR practices and that more investments will lead to more satisfaction.

Stated research shows differences between countries in the role of the HR Department and

the implemented practices which will show in the satisfaction of the HR practices by employees

and the conducted IB.

H7 = German employees are less satisfied with their HIWPs than Dutch employees.

H8= The difference between the Netherlands and Germany in intrapreneurial behavior is

partially related to higher levels of satisfaction of HIWPs in the Netherlands as compared to in

Germany.

Fig. 1: Conceptual model

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3. Methodology

In this section the methodological framework of the research is described by providing

information about the research design, research sample, instruments procedure and the analysis.

3.1 Research design

The collected data used in this research was part of a bigger explanatory investigation on

intrapreneurship. For the collection of data, a survey was used that measures various constructs.

This study was conducted as a quantitative study using and testing the research model as the

foundation.

3.2 Sampling method and survey

The target group of the study was employees over 18 year’s old working in an

organization for 12+ hours a week in Germany and the Netherlands; this excludes entrepreneurs

and freelancers. The intended number of respondents was 138. This number was based on a

confidence interval of 95 percent, a margin error of 5 percent and a medium effect size of 0.15

recommended by literature (Dattalo, 2008; Cunningham & McCrum-Gardner, 2007). The sample

size was calculated by the software G*Power, which is a statistical power analysis tool created by

researchers at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and often mentioned in literature, using the a

priori analysis to compute the necessary sample size (Cunningham & McCrum-Gardner, 2007).

The survey was available in English, German and Dutch and based on either validated

translated scales or a back translation with an official translator to ensure full comprehension and

understanding. Back-translation is a three-step process in which the original survey was

translated from English to the target languages German and Dutch and then back translated by a

different translator. Both English versions were then compared. To ensure a high standard of

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translation, researchers need to be aware of cultural differences which might change the essential

meaning of words and phrases (Maxwell, 1996). To minimize this problem several outsiders and

an official translator looked over the German and Dutch translations and made comments or

adaptations to ensure understandability and flow of the sentences.

For time and cost efficiency reasons, we used availability sampling, also known as

convenience sampling, to reach the intended number of participants (Skowronek & Duerr, 2009).

Availability sampling is a non-probabilistic sampling method in which participants are chosen

because of their accessibility to the researcher (Dattalo, 2008; Skowronek & Duerr, 2009).

However, this method runs the risk of being biased due to the possibility that people willing to

participate may differ from a representative sample of the population (Kitchenham & Pfleeger,

2002; Fricker, 2008). Accordingly, drawing strong inferences must be considered carefully.

3.3 Procedure

To carry out the research, five students from Tilburg University collected data by using an

online survey on Qualtrics. A web-based survey was chosen as it performs faster at a lower cost

than traditional approaches such as personal interviews (Heiervang & Goodman, 2011). The

survey consisted of 87 items. The questionnaire was distributed on social and business networks

by a link which redirected the participants to the survey on Qualtrics. On the website participants

first read a letter of consent with information regarding instructions, estimated time,

confidentiality and anonymity. The latter was guaranteed since the questionnaire did not collect

any identifying or personal information of the participant. For further questions or interest in the

research, participants could reach out by sending an email or visiting our website.

In order to address the research questions and to test the hypotheses, the collected data

was analyzed with IBM’s Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. First, the

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dataset was checked for values out of range or missing. In the last case, the missing values were

coded as ―99‖. After that, variables that were coded the wrong way will be recoded. Then, data

was checked for homoscedasticity and multicollinearity. After this the preliminary analysis was

conducted.

Before any measurement instruments can be used for research, their reliability and

validity must be ensured (Koo & Li, 2015). Reliability or internal consistency is measured by

running the Cronbach's alpha test in SPSS. A scale is considered acceptable when Cronbach’s

alpha of the scale exceeded the number of .70.

All scales were examined separately in a factor analysis. A principal component analysis

(PCA) was used to identify clusters of items of our survey as well as to measure construct

validity. Prior to the PCA, we determined the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) which should be close

to 1.0 and excel .6 indicating that the correlation matrix was adequate for conducting factor

analysis (Remijn et al., 2014). A PCA was conducted for IB to ensure that a one factor solution

was adequate.

Then, means and standard deviation were computed and the correlations matrix presented

in order to examine multicollinearity. Multicollinearity can be ruled out if it is under the

threshold of .90.

After the preliminary analysis, the hypotheses were tested. To test the effects of

antecedents on IB, a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted. For this, all individual

HR practices were entered block wise. We chose to do a block wise regression first to check the

effects of all antecedents rather than having variables excluded in a stepwise regression. In a

second step, a new linear regression analysis with HIWPs was conducted. This had to be done in

a second step, because HIWPs consists of the four HR practices and therefore would measure the

same thing. Both regression analyses were run three times: once for the whole sample, the once

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for the Germany sample and once for the Dutch sample. Hypotheses 1 to 5 were supported if a

direct, significant and positive effect was found. After this, we further looked into the effect of

country on the individual constructs. In order to test hypotheses 6a and 6b, a linear regression and

an independent samples t-test was conducted to check the effect of country on IB. Hypotheses 6a

and 6b were supported if a direct and significant effect was found and Dutch employees showed

higher IB. For hypotheses 7a and 7b a linear regression analysis with country as an independent

variable and the individual HR practices as well as HIWPs as dependent variables were entered

and an independent samples t-test is conducted. Hypotheses 7a and 7b were supported if a direct

and significant effect was found and Dutch employees showed higher satisfaction with their

HIWPs. In order to test hypothesis 8, a partial correlation analysis was conducted to test the

strength of the relationship between HIWPs and IB while controlling for country. The hypothesis

was supported, if a significant effect was found with and without controlling for country.

3.4 Measures

Intrapreneurial behavior was measured using a 15-item scale developed by Stull and

Singh (2005). This scale has been used and validated in previous studies (Wakkee et al., 2008;

Moriano et al., 2009). It uses the definition of intrapreneurship defined as the multidimensional

overarching concept consisting of three behavioral dimensions: risk-taking, innovation and

proactiveness (Miller, 1983). Each dimension was measured with five items on a five-point-

Likert scale (1=‖disagree strongly‖ to 5=‖agree strongly‖). A sample item was ―I generate useful

ideas‖. The KMO measure verified the sampling adequacy for the analysis, KMO = .83 and all

KMO values for individual items were > .63, which is above the acceptable limit of .6. The

Bartlett's Test of Sphericity (χ2 (105) = 1383.99, p < .05), was significant, indicating that

variables correlated highly enough to provide a reasonable basis for factor analysis. An initial

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analysis was run to obtain eigenvalues for each component in the data (see Appendix B). Four

components had eigenvalues over Kaiser’s criterion of 1 and the combination explained 58.29

percent of the variance. Creating one factor accounted for 30.64 percent of the variance

indicating that the scale cannot be considered as one-dimensional as the explained variance was

lower than .40 (van Veldhoven, & Broersen, 2003). Considering the scree plot and the results of

the component matrix, a one factor solution was suitable for further research. Following the

approach proposed by literature, a one factor solution labeled ―Intrapreneurial Behavior‖ was

created as a sum score of the 15 individual items. However, two items did not load on the one

factor solution, but since more than 10 items loaded higher than .40 and the sample size exceeds

300, the interpretability was ensured (Klopp, 2012) (see Appendix B). A high score stood for

high IB.

Furthermore, the scale has been found to have high internal consistency as Cronbach's

alpha was .80 which is comparable with previous research showing a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.76

(Stull & Singh, 2005).

HIWPs were defined as a set of interconnected and synergistic HR practices consisting of

compensation practices, trainings, employee participation and shared information across the

organization. To measure HIWPs parts of a scale developed by Boselie et al. (2001) measuring

the four individual constructs were used. This scale has been used by other researchers and was

found to have a high reliability (Veenendaal & Bondarouk, 2015; Pons et al., 2016).

Each of the items was measured in terms of the perception of the extent to which a certain

HR practice took place within the organization. A five-point Likert scale, ranging from

1=‖disagree strongly‖ to 5 = ―strongly agree‖ was used. The KMO measure verified the sampling

adequacy for the analysis, KMO = .68, and all KMO values for individual items were < .69

22


except Compensation which was .49. The Bartlett's Test (χ2 (105) = 156.56, p < .05), was

significant. Creating one factor accounts for 47.65 percent of the variance. Following the

approach proposed by literature, a one factor solution labeled ―HIWPs‖ was created as a sum

score of the 16 individual items with Cronbach’s alpha being .61 even though one item

(compensation) did not load on this factor. A high score stood for high satisfaction with the HR

practices.

Compensation is represented by three items with a sample item being ―I am not getting

underpaid for my work‖. KMO measure of sampling adequacy was .683, and Bartlett’s Test was

significant (χ2 (3) = 205.58, p < .05). One component had an eigenvalue over 1 (1.96) explaining

65.59 percent of the variance. Cronbach’s alpha was .73 which is similar to previous research

showing high internal consistency with a Cronbach’s alpha of .72 (Boselie et al., 2001).

Training and development is represented by three items with a sample item being ―I get

enough opportunities to attend skill trainings for improvement of current function‖. KMO

measure of sampling adequacy was .63, and Bartlett’s Test was significant (χ2 (3) = 429.37, p <

.05). One component had an eigenvalue over 1 (2.22) explaining 74.28 percent of the variance.

Cronbach’s alpha was .82 which was higher than in previous research showing a Cronbach’s

alpha of .71 (Boselie et al., 2001).

Employee participation is measured by four items with a sample item being ―Management

is willing to do something with my recommendations‖. KMO measure of sampling adequacy was

.80, and Bartlett’s Test was significant (χ2 (6) = 426.32, p < .05). One component had an

eigenvalue over 1 (2.59) explaining 64.93 percent of the variance. Cronbach’s alpha was .81

23


which was higher than in previous research showing a Cronbach’s alpha of .71 (Boselie et al.,

2001).

Information sharing is measured by six items with a sample item being ―I am well informed

on the future plans of the company‖ KMO measure of sampling adequacy was .797, and

Bartlett’s Test was significant (χ2 (15) = 600.628, p < .05). One component had an eigenvalue

over 1 (3.091) explaining 51.520 percent of the variance. Cronbach’s alpha was .80 which was

higher than in previous research showing a Cronbach’s alpha of .71 (Boselie et al., 2001).

We included two control variables that may influence the relationships we examine. Firstly,

we included age, because previous research has found that there is a possibility of an effect on

innovative behavior (Schaffer, Kearney, Voelpel & Koester, 2012). Secondly, we included

gender which was measured dichotomously (1=male; 2=female) as it has been found to influence

innovative behavior within the workplace (Singh & Sarkar, 2012).

3.5 Sample

The sample consisted of 562 participants of which 318 respondents belonged to the target

group (i.e. are either Dutch or German) and have filled out all of the relevant questions which

was above the calculated and intended number of 138 respondents (see 3.2).

Looking at the country of residence, 46 percent (149) of the respondents lived in Germany

and 53.1 percent (169) lived in the Netherlands. The final sample size consisted of 57.2 percent

(182) women and 42.8 percent (136) man. The mean age was 32.2 years with 18 years being the

youngest and 67 years the oldest. More than 50 percent of the respondents were younger than 27.

Respondents have worked on average 5.3 years for their current employer with 0 years being the

24


shortest and 42 years the longest. Respondents were asked to fill in ―0‖ in case they work less

than a year for their employer. More than 50 percent of the sample has worked only 2.5 years or

less for their current employer. When looking at the educational level, 74.5 percent (237) of the

respondents have completed either a university of applied sciences or university, 14.5 percent

(46) have completed an apprenticeship, 4.1 percent (13) have completed lower or middle

secondary education and 6.9 percent (22) have completed the general university entrance

certificate. To test if both groups (German and Dutch sample) were similar, we conducted an

independent samples t-test. Looking at the results, Levene’s test is indicating that the variances of

both groups were similar for tenure (.73) and educational background (.85), but variances were

not similar for age (.01) and gender (.01). The detailed descriptives for both groups can be found

in appendix B.

4. Analysis

4.1. Descriptives

The means, standard deviations, and correlations for the variables addressed in this study

are presented in Table 1. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlations

between the individual HR practices, HIWPs and IB. In order to analyze the correlations between

all constructs and Country the Eta correlation was used, because it is able to calculate correlations

with nominal scaled variables. Multicollinearity can be ruled out since the variance inflation

factor for all variables was lower than 10 and the tolerance was higher than .10. Furthermore,

maximum correlation between the independent variables was .47 which is well under the

threshold of .90. The high correlations for HIWPs were seen as unproblematic since they were

caused by the inclusion of the four HR practices and therefore expected to correlate highly.

25


Table 1. Means (M), standard deviations (SD) and correlations

Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1.compensation 3.20 .84 1

2. training 3.21 .93 .21* 1

3.employee participation 3.48 .78 .20* .32* 1

4.information sharing 3.43 .75 .19* .34* .47* 1

5.HIWPS 3.33 .56 .59* .71* .71* .70* 1

6.IB 3.38 .48 .10 .10 .24* .26* .25* 1

7.Country 1.53 .49 .10 .14* .14* .09* .17* .17* 1

8.Age 32.18 11.71 .04 .10 -.01 .04 .06 -.01 -.01 1

9.Gender 1.57 .49 -.01 .00 -.03 .02 -.00 -.09 .08 -.15* 1

Note. Country coded 1=Germany, 2=the Netherlands. *correlation is significant at the .05 level

Table 1 represents the means, standard deviations, and correlations of the variables.

Results revealed that significant correlations were found between compensation and training (r =

.21, p <.05), employee participation and compensation (r = .20, p <.05), employee participation

and training (r=.32, p<.05), information sharing and compensation (r = .19, p <.05), information

sharing and training (r = .34, p <.05), information sharing and employee participation (r = .47, p

<.05). Furthermore, significant correlations were found between HIWPs and the individual HR

practices: HIWPs and compensation (r = .59, p <.05), training (r = .71, p <.05), employee

participation (r = .71, p <.05), information sharing (r = .70, p <.05). Moreover, we found several

significant correlations between IB and employee participation (r = .24, p <.05), IB and

information sharing (r = .26, p <.05), and IB and HIWPs (r = .25, p <.05). We failed to find a

significant correlation between IB and compensation (r = .10, p >.05), and IB and training (r

=.10, p >.05). Moreover, several significant correlations with country were found: Country and

training (r = .14, p <.05), and employee participation (r =.14, p <.05), and employee participation

26


(r =.09, p <.05), and information sharing (r = .17, p <.05), and HIWPs (r = .17, p <.05). No

statistically significant correlation was found between Country and compensation (r = .10, p

>.05). Furthermore, no statistically significant correlations were found between the control

variables Age and Gender and the other variables. Only Age and Gender were found to have a

significant correlation (r = -.15, p <.05),

As the scales for HIWPs range from 1 to 5, having a mean above 3 indicates that the

employees were above average satisfied with their HR practices. Moreover, the standard

deviations were similar between the practices indicating similar diversification. Furthermore,

employees also showed above average IB.

4.2 Hypothesis testing

Effects of antecedents on IB

Multiple regression analysis was conducted to test hypotheses 1 to 5. Firstly, the

individual HR practices were entered together block wise as independent variables while IB as

the dependent variable was held constant. In a second step, a new regression analysis with

HIWPs as an independent variable was entered. Then, we changed the sample size from all

(N=318) to only German employees (Model 2, N=149) or only Dutch employees (Model 3,

N=169) to see any differences between the three models (see Table 2).

27


Table 2. Regression analysis: individual HR practices predicting IB

Model 1 Model 2 (German

employees)

Model 3 (Dutch

employees)

B β R2 B β R

2 B β R

2

Constant

compensation .35 .04 .07 .82 -.02 .10 -.22 .11 .06

training -.17 -.02 -1.26* .05 .49 -.18

employee participation 1.45* .15 .71* .20 2.07* .09

information sharing 1.76* .18 2.38* .09 1.02 .29

Note. n=318 n=149 n=169

*indicates the confidence interval of p<.05

Table 3. Regression analysis: HIWPs predicting IB

Model 1 Model 2 (German

employees)

Model 3 (Dutch

employees)

B β R2 B β R

2 B β R

2

Constant

HIWPs .21* .27 .07 .16* .24 .05 .22 .26 .06

Note. n=318 n=149 n=169

*indicates the confidence interval of p<.05

The results showed that the bundle of HIWPs had a highly significant and positive direct

effect on IB (F(1,316) = 25.66, p <.05). Hypothesis 1 is therefore supported. However, only a

small percentage of the variation in IB was explained by HIWPS (R2=.07). Furthermore, HIWPs,

had a significant and direct effect on IB for both German employees (F(1,147) = 9.13, p <.05)

and for Dutch employees (F(1,167) = 12.284, p <.05). A summary of the hypotheses results can

be found in Table 5.

28


When looking at the individual HR practices, following results were found. The results

suggest that the data fits the models well. In model 1 (F(4.31)= 7.56, p < 0.05, R² = .07) seven

percent of the variance in IB was explained by the four individual HR practices. In model 2

(F(4.14)= 5.27, p <0.05, R² = .10) 10 percent and in model 3 (F(4.16)= 3.68, p <0.05, R² = .06)

six percent. This indicates that more variance in IB is explained with this model in Germany than

in the Netherlands.

The results showed that compensation had no significant direct effect on IB (β = .04, p >

.05). Therefore, hypothesis 2 was rejected. We also failed to find a significant effect of

compensation on IB for only German (β = -.02, p > .05) or Dutch employees (β = .26, p > .05).

Moreover, it was found that training had no significant direct effect on IB (β = -.02, p >

.05). Therefore, hypothesis 3 was rejected. We also failed to find a significant effect of training

satisfaction on IB for only Dutch employees (β = -.18, p > .05) However, we found a significant

and direct negative effect of training satisfaction on IB in the German sample (β = .05, p < .05).

This indicates that the more satisfied German employees are with their training opportunities, the

fewer employees will show IB.

Furthermore, the results showed that employee participation had a significant positive and

direct effect on IB (β = .15, p < .05). Hypothesis 4 was supported. Results also showed a

significant and positive effect for German employees (β = .20, p < .05) as well as Dutch (β = .09,

p < .05).

Lastly, it was found that information sharing had a significant positive and direct effect on

IB (β = .18, p < .05). Hypothesis 5 was supported. Results also showed a significant and positive

effect for German employees (β = .09, p < .05) but no significant effect was found for Dutch

employees (β = .29, p > .05).

29


Moreover, the control variables age (B=-.00, p>.05) and gender (B=-.06, p>0.5) were

both found to not have a significant on IB nor on HIWPs and were therefore excluded from the

tables.

Effects of country

For the second analysis, we looked further into the effect of the country (independent

variable) on the individual HR practices, as well as on HIWPs and IB (dependent variable). The

results can be seen in Table 4.

In order to test hypothesis 6, we conducted two different analyses. Firstly, we computed a

simple linear regression. The results showed that country had a significant effect on IB (β = .17, p

< .05) (see Table 4). Secondly, we conducted an independent samples t-test. The mean level of IB

of German employees (M = 3.29; SD = .41) was lower than the mean level of IB of Dutch

employees (M = 3.46; SD = .52) and the standard deviation indicated a bigger variance in the

Dutch sample. Levene’s test indicated unequal variance (p < .01), so the degrees of freedom were

adjusted from 316 to 311. The difference was significant (t(311)= -3.13, p < 0.05). Therefore,

hypothesis 6 is supported.

Furthermore, an independent samples t-test was conducted to look at the effects of

Germany and the Netherlands on the HR practices. Looking at the results, Levene’s test (p = .75)

is indicating that the variances of both groups were similar. The mean level of satisfaction with

HIWPs of German employees (M = 3.22; SD = .55) was lower than the mean level of satisfaction

with HIWPs of Dutch employees (M = 3.43; SD = .55). The difference was significant (t(316)= -

3.33, p<.05). Hypothesis 7 can therefore also be supported.

When looking further at the individual HR practices we saw similar results (see Table 5).

The mean levels of satisfaction with HR practices were significantly different and lower in the

30


German sample compared to the Dutch sample indicating that Dutch employees are more

satisfied with their HR practices.

Table 4. Independent samples t-test results

German sample Dutch sample

M SD M SD df t sig

HIWPs 3.22 .55 3.43 .55 310 -3.33 <.05

compensation 3.10 .85 3.29 .83 316 -1.67 >.05

training 3.06 .92 3.34 .91 310 -2.64 <.05

employee participation 3.35 .79 3.59 .79 308 -2.71 <.05

information sharing 3.36 .76 3.50 .73 316 -1.67 >.05

Spurious relation between HIWPs and IB because of country

In order to test hypothesis 8, we conducted a partial correlation analysis by looking at the

strength of the relationship between HIWPs and IB while controlling for the effect of country.

The results showed that the bundle of HIWPs have a highly significant and direct, but lower

effect on IB when controlled for country (B=.25, p<.05). Without controlling for country the

effect is still highly significant and direct, but slightly higher (B=.27, p<.05). This indicates that

country has only a very small influence on the relation between HIWPs and IB. However, also

hypothesis 8 is supported.

31


Table 5. Hypotheses summary

Hypothesis IV DV p<.05 B M

1 The more satisfied employees are with their HIWPS, the

more employees will show IB.

HIWPs IB supported .21

2 The more satisfied employees are with their compensation,

the more employees will show IB.

compensation IB not supported

3 The more satisfied employees are with their training, the

more employees will show IB.

training IB not supported

4 The more satisfied employees are with their employee

participation, the more employees will show IB.

employee

participation

IB supported 1.77

5 The more satisfied employees are with their information

sharing, the more employees will show IB.

information

sharing

IB supported 1.45

6 Dutch employees show more IB than German employees. Country supported GER=3.29

NED=3.46

7 German employees are less satisfied with their HIWPs. Country HIWPs supported GER=3.22

NED=3.43

8 The difference between the IB in the Netherlands and

Germany is partially related to higher levels of their

satisfaction with HIWPs.

Country HIWPs/

IB

supported .02

32


5. Discussion

5.1 Main findings

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship between HIWPS and

intrapreneurial behavior while considering potential effects of countries. This study aimed to

answer the following research questions: What is the effect of high involvement work practices

on intrapreneurial behavior of employees? To what extent does the country affect the work

practices or intrapreneurial behavior? And can a difference between Germany and the

Netherlands be portrayed? To answer these questions a sample of 318 employees in Germany

(149) and the Netherlands (169) was used to investigate the hypotheses.

The results indicated that the bundle of HIWPs has a positive and direct effect on IB.

Unfortunately, not all individual HIWPs were found to have an effect on IB. For satisfaction

with compensation and training opportunities, we failed to find a significant effect on IB.

However, when employees were satisfied with their participation in the organization as well as

with their information sharing, their IB was higher. Though, when conducting additional

analysis, we found that the effect of only including information sharing and employee

participation is stronger (β=1.61, p<.05, adj. R²= .08) than when including all of the HIWPs

(β=.21, p<.05, adj. R²= .07). For Germany, we found a negative effect of satisfaction with

training on the IB. Yet, we did not find a significant effect of HIWPs on IB in the Dutch sample.

In this study we also wanted to acknowledge the influence of contextual factors such as

the effect of country on the satisfaction with HIWPs and IB. We have found that the country

affects not only the IB of employees, but also the satisfaction with their HIWPs. A direct effect

of country on IB and HIWPs was found, however, this effect only explained a very small

variance of the variable.

33


The satisfaction with HIWPs and the IB of employees was higher in the Netherlands than

in Germany. The variable country moderated the effect between HIWPs and IB slightly, but not

in full effect.

5.2 Discussion and implications

The reported findings suggest that employees who are more satisfied with the HIWPs of

their organization are more likely to show IB, but this effect differs by country. For instance, we

were able to find a significant effect of HIWPs on IB in the German sample, but not for the

Dutch sample. This is in line with previous research showing that HR practices need to be

adapted to the local context and may have different effects in different countries (Kostova,

1999). However, even though the satisfaction with the HIWPs and the IB was higher in the

Netherlands, we failed to find a significant effect of the HR practices on IB. Therefore, the

higher IB must be influenced by other factors. One of the factors might be the national culture.

As previously mentioned, Shane (1993) found that innovation rates of countries are closely

related to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (1980), especially uncertainty acceptance, lack of

power distance and lack of individualism. In these dimensions, Germany and the Netherlands

show similar scores in power, but differences in individualism and uncertainty avoidance.

Furthermore, Mueller and Thomas (2001) found that various cultures motivate individuals in

different ways to show certain behaviors which can be considered to influence IB. Following

this, the institutional theory can support in understanding this effect. Its main idea is that

countries differ in their institutional characteristics which can be characterized by three pillars:

regulatory reflecting laws and rules, cognitive reflecting society’s shared social knowledge and

normative reflecting the values and norms. One could therefore argue that the normative pillar in

34


the Netherlands is different to the one in Germany and therefore guides behaviors towards

certain patterns (Lammers & Garcia, 2017). This could lead to a higher IB in the Netherlands

without the need to implement HR practices as the behavior is already present within the

population. This is in line with the results of our study as the Dutch sample has shown higher IB

than the German sample, this might be due to the national culture valuing behaviors closely

related to IB. This indicates that the bundle of HIWPs chosen in this study does not have a

universal effect in every country or organization.

Furthermore, the findings suggest that not all individual HR practices have the same

effect on IB of employees. For instance, we found that training had an effect on IB in the

German sample and opposite to what was expected. Results indicated that the higher the

satisfaction with training, the lower the IB of the employee. However, no statistically significant

results were found for the Dutch sample. These results contradict our assumption and the

findings of previous studies that training has a positive effect on the innovative behavior of

employees (e.g. Shipton et al., 2006). It could be argued that the offered trainings did not match

the employees’ or organizational needs. Following the social exchange theory, it could also be

argued that the signals sent by the organization were misinterpreted or that the training in general

was not useful to the employees (Bos-Nehles & Veenendaal, 2019). Furthermore, the job

demands-resources theory could be used to explain the effect. Researchers have shown that job

demands such as challenges can motivate employees to show innovative behavior (eg Bos-

Nehles & Veenendaal, 2019). The participants may have the job resources as for instance

through trainings, but lack the job demands to show IB. Moreover, Neal et al. (2005) found that

the organizational climate may also play a role in the relation between training and innovative

behavior. They showed that training may only have an effect in a non-innovative climate since

35


employees have the possibility to show IB in these environments. This could indicate that the

climate in the Netherlands is different to the one in Germany which could explain the different

effects of training.

Furthermore, compensation did not significantly influence the IB of employees in any of

our samples either. This could be explained with the fact that the average age of our sample size

is 32 with 50 percent being under 27 while the cross section of the working population is 44

years old (Destatis, 2019) and the changing demands accompanied by the younger generation.

Recent studies suggest that new generations such as generation y (age-group 1980 to 1994) and

generation z (age-group 1995 to 2010) are shifting their demands (Saxena & Jain, 2012). For

example, the focus shifted from traditional benefits such as compensation to other less

materialistic benefits such as a challenging work and a flexible and independent workspace with

a good team spirit (Mörstedt, 2015). While this could explain why we were unable to find a

significant effect of compensation on IB, it could also explain why we found a positive and

significant effect of employee participation on IB in all samples and a positive and significant

effect on information sharing on IB in the whole sample and for the German sample.

This implicates that organizations need to adjust their HR practices to the requirements of

the new working force to foster IB within the organization (Schmidt et al., 2011). The results

also indicated that not all HR practices had a significant effect on IB, but the bundle (HIWPs) did

have a significant effect. Only information sharing and employee participation were found to

have a significant and positive impact on IB. In order to test whether the effect is higher when

only including the significant practices compared to the whole bundle, we performed an

additional analysis. For this a new factor consisting of information sharing and employee

participation was created and a linear regression was performed. Results showed that, the effect

36


of only including information sharing and employee participation is stronger (β = .29, p < .05)

than when including all of the HIWPs (β = .27, p < .05). This suggests that it is better to focus on

fewer individual practices that have an impact rather than a bundle of practices where the effect

of individual practices might be eliminated.

Furthermore, the importance of the effect of shared information on IB has also been

highlighted in previous studies surround the field of knowledge sharing. The underlying idea

behind the knowledge sharing theory is that the knowledge of individuals must be transferred

voluntarily to the group as well as the organization in order to prepare the ground for innovative

actions and be applied (Camelo-Ordaz et al., 2011). Authors such as Ipe (2003) argue that if

knowledge sharing is not performed effectively, innovations processes can suffer. While this

theory would explain why we were able to find a statistically significant effect of information

sharing on IB in the German sample, it fails to give an understanding why no effect was found in

the Dutch sample. This is especially interesting, because the levels of satisfaction with

information sharing were higher in the Netherlands than in Germany. However, it is important to

mention that the focus of the questions in this survey were mainly regarding information

surrounding organizational aspects rather than individual or organizational knowledge.

Therefore, this could be an interesting aspect to research further as it has also been rarely studied

in conjunction with HR practices and frameworks.

The results indicated that organizations need to consider a variety of aspects when

wanting to foster IB. Currently, employees seem to be more attracted by having the opportunity

to actively participate in their environment. Furthermore, especially German organizations need

to critically reflect on their training practices to ensure that the trainings are necessary and

effective to avoid triggering opposite effects. In sum, there is no best practice solution to follow,

37


rather organizations need to critically reflect on their organizational structure and goals and

select practices that are corresponding to this.

5.3 Limitations and suggestions for future research

This study has several limitations that need to be considered to accurately interpret the

results which might have an influence on the outcomes. First, in this research we used

convenience sampling and self-reported data which has a high chance of involving a bias

towards social desirability (Etikan et al., 2016). Therefore, the results might not portray the

accurate level of IB within the organization and cannot be seen as representative and need to be

interpreted with caution. In order to control for this behavior, it would be interesting to consider

taking into account other measures and data sets from additional sources such as performance

ratings, project work or supervisor and colleague assessments to verify the individual's level of

IB.

As mentioned before, the average age within our sample is 12 years lower than the cross

section of the working population. In our sample, we were unable to find an effect of age on IB;

however, the results could differ with an older sample size. In recent studies, which investigated

the relationship between age and IB, the results were mixed and indicated that the relation is

more complex than expected. For instance, a study by Schaffer et al. (2012) found that the

relation between age and IB is impacted by skills, motivation and contextual factors.

In order to deepen the knowledge of antecedents of IB to support organizations in

competing on a global market, future research can support this in the following ways. Firstly, it

would be interesting to further look into the effects of how HR practices can stimulate IB. This

can be performed by conducting longitudinal studies. This would enable researchers to find

38


effects of newly implemented HR practices on IB and see whether the implemented practices

lead to the intended outcomes. While performing this, it would be interesting to focus more on a

variety of HR practices that are adapted to the needs of younger generations. As previously

mentioned, one of their goals is to give meaning to their work and work innovatively. The

organization therefore needs to trigger this behavior within the employees by acknowledging

fitting HR practices. Examples of this could be to create an open and supportive workplace, a

transparent and fair performance management feedback system or knowledge sharing systems.

Furthermore, the results indicated that German employees are less satisfied with their HIWPs

than Dutch employees. It would therefore be interesting to compare the practices in both

countries and see whether there are actual differences in levels of practices or which other factors

also contribute to the satisfaction with HIWPs of employees. Research shows that the average

income is higher in the Netherlands (43.404€/year) than in Germany (39.949€/year) which could

explain the differences in satisfaction with compensation (Mean Germany= 3.1, Mean

Netherlands= 3.29), however there is less research about the levels of information sharing and

employee participation (Laenderdaten, 2018).

The theoretical model used in this research was significant, however it explained only a

small variance of IB showing that the model needs to be extended by other variables. For

example, this includes the size of the organization and its composition, the satisfaction with the

job or the motivation. In an additional analysis we found that educational level has a significant

and positive effect on IB. This can be grounded in the assumption that employees with a higher

educational background are better able to carry out innovative tasks as they are provided with the

relevant knowledge (Romero & Martínez-Román, 2012). However, this would be needed to

39


research further. It would also be beneficial to understand what aspects or practices are needed to

support employees of a lower educational background to show IB.

5.4 Practical implications

The results of this study can be used by practitioners to understand how to foster IB of

employees within the organization in order to sustain competitive advantage. As many

organizations struggle to keep updated with the outcomes of HR practices, this study can provide

interesting insights for practitioners to help organizations succeed in supporting and guiding their

human capital to show desired behavior. This study indicates that individual HR practices may

have an effect on IB of employees within organizations. Furthermore, the effects vary by country

(here: Germany and the Netherlands). Therefore, the results suggest that organizations need to

consider a variety of aspects when wanting to foster IB. Currently, employees seem to be more

attracted by having the opportunity to actively participate in their environment. There is no one-

size-fits-all solution to follow, rather organizations need to critically reflect on their

organizational structure, contextual factors, their employees and goals and select practices that

are corresponding to this direction. As the results have shown, the IB in the Netherlands is higher

compared to Germany; however there was no significant effect of HIWPs on IB in the Dutch

sample. This shows that German organizations should consider investing more in their HIWPs as

a way to encourage IB while Dutch organizations need to consider other aspects such as

individual and organizational characteristics, leadership behaviors or political and socioeconomic

parameters (Standing et al., 2016; Su & Baird, 2018; Birudavolu & Nag, 2019). It is best to

include only practices of importance and significance to the employee such as information

sharing and employee participation than incorporating a big variety that is not contributing to the

40


organization's goals as this would lower the effect of the practices on IB. Therefore, it is

important to reassess the introduced practices by for instance performing a trend barometer or a

survey within the organization

.

41


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Appendix A

Scales

Compensation

1. I am not getting underpaid for my work.

2. In comparison to my colleagues I get well paid.

3. As far as I know our salary is as high or even better than the salaries of comparable

organizations.

Training

4. I am well prepared for my work because of the training I got from my business unit.

5. I get enough opportunities to attend skills training for improvement of my current

function.

6. I get enough opportunities to attend skills training for improvement of my

opportunities to a better function.

Employee Participation

7. There is a lot of effort done to get to know the opinions and ideas of employees in my

business unit.

8. Management is willing to do something with my recommendations.

9. Employees are encouraged to bring forward new solutions for problems.

10. I am satisfied with my participation with decision making related to my function.

60


Information Sharing

11. I am well informed on the vision and mission of the company.

12. I am well informed on the future plans of the company.

13. I am well informed on the business results of the company.

14. I am well informed on the full service package of the company.

15. I am well informed on the activities of other establishments and units of the company.

16. I am well informed on the service standards of the company.

Risk-taking

17. I approach new projects or activities in a cautious manner.

18. I do things that have a chance of not working out.

19. I avoid taking calculated risks.

20. I engage in activities that have a chance of not working out will take calculated risks

despite the possibility of failure.

21. I will take calculated risks despite the possibility of failure.

Proactiveness

22. I keep ahead of changes instead of responding to them.

23. I actively fix or improve things I don't like.

24. I act in anticipation of future problems, needs or changes.

25. I take the initiative to start projects.

26. I tend to implement changes before they are needed.

61


Innovativeness

27. I generate useful ideas.

28. I develop new processes, services, or products.

29. I approach business tasks in innovative ways.

30. I find new ways to do things.

31. I often do things in unique ways.

62


Appendix B

Descriptives of sample

Category Country M SD Min Max

Gender (1=male; 2=female) all 1.57 .49 1 2

Germany 1.53 .50 1 2

Netherlands 1.61 .48 1 2

Age all 32.18 11.71 18 67

Germany 32.34 10.83 21 67

Netherlands 32.03 12.46 18 66

Educational Background (1=lower

secondary; 2=higher secondary;

3=apprenticeship; 4=University of

applied sciences; 5=University)

all 4.06 1.12 1 5

Germany 4.34 1.08 1 5

Netherlands 3.81 1.09 1 5

Tenure all 5.29 8.13 0 42

Germany 5.50 8.42 0 42

Netherlands 5.09 7.85 0 40

63


Factor and reliability analysis

Item Factor

loading

Loadings

on HIWPs

Cronbach’s

alpha

Compensation .73

I am not getting underpaid for my work. .82 /

In comparison to my colleagues I get well paid. .81 .35

As far as I know our salary is as high or even better than the

salaries of comparable organizations.

.78 .36

Training

I am well prepared for my work because of the training I

got from my business unit.

.92 .47 .82

I get enough opportunities to attend skills training for

improvement of my current function.

.87 .60

I get enough opportunities to attend skills training for

improvement of my opportunities to a better function.

.773 .56

Employee Participation .81

There is a lot of effort done to get to know the opinions and

ideas of employees in my business unit.

.83 .66

Management is willing to do something with my

recommendations.

.81 .65

Employees are encouraged to bring forward new solutions

for problems.

.80 .60

I am satisfied with my participation with decision making

related to my function.

.76 .58

Information Sharing .80

I am well informed on the vision and mission of the

company.

.78 .61

I am well informed on the future plans of the company. .74 .67

I am well informed on the business results of the company. .73 .53

I am well informed on the full service package of the

company.

.70 .62

I am well informed on the activities of other establishments

and units of the company.

.69 .56

I am well informed on the service standards of the

company.

.64 .61

Intrapreneurial Behavior .80

I approach new projects or activities in a cautious manner. /

I do things that have a chance of not working out. .39

I avoid taking calculated risks. .30

I engage in activities that have a chance of not working out. .41

I will take calculated risks despite the possibility of failure. .50

64


I keep ahead of changes instead of responding to them. /

I actively fix or improve things I don't like. .61

I act in anticipation of future problems, needs or changes. .52

I take the initiative to start projects. .72

I tend to implement changes before they are needed. .57

I generate useful ideas. .69

I develop new processes, services, or products. .70

I approach business tasks in innovative ways. .73

I find new ways to do things. .72

I often do things in unique ways. .57

.

Documents

The effects of employees’ perception of high involvement