Mechanisms of Organizational Culture for Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

Organizational culture ranks among the highly relevant factors for fostering corporate entrepreneurship and has attracted increasing research interest in recent years. Despite a growing body of scholarly work, to date there is limited understanding of which specific cultural mechanisms create an organizational environment where entrepreneurial activities flourish. The current state of knowledge is characterized by diverse, and partly conflicting, theoretical predictions and empirical findings. Furthermore, the complex and contested nature of organizational culture makes it difficult to derive useful propositions for managerial actions that will serve practitioners and theorists alike. To address these issues and encourage future work, this study uses a systematic review and develops an analytical framework, thereby considering eight general dimensions of organizational culture across different levels. As the theorization on these dimensions is unsuited to addressing practical realities, this article is built upon a realist account so as to shed light on the specific mechanisms through which the general cultural dimensions operate. This approach allows for more a fine-grained understanding of how organizational culture fosters corporate entrepreneurship and enables future research avenues to be identified.