The effect of managers’ power on employees’ entrepreneurship: an empirical study in the public offices of Iran

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of managers’ power on employees’ entrepreneurship in the public offices by using five dimensions of power (Coercive, expert, legitimate, referent, and reward) to give constructive suggestions for situation improvement through identifying powers affecting employees' entrepreneurship. Design/Methodology/Approach: Considering the research objective, it is an applied study, and regarding data collection and the data analysis method, it is a descriptive-correlational study which has analyzed data through structural equations modeling with partial least squares (PLS) approach. Data were collected using two questionnaires including managers’ power and employees’ entrepreneurship. A sample of 600 employees was selected from the public offices of Iran. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and Amos software. Results: The finding revealed that reward power, referent power, expert power and legitimate power had a positive and significant effect on employees’ entrepreneurship, but the coercive power had not significant effect on it. Limitations: Among limitations of the current research are the big size of the statistical population that made it difficult to collect data, as well as the existence of different cultures in the statistical population which could partly affect the results of the research. Practical implications: Research findings can be used to improve the entrepreneurship of employees in government organization. Originality/value: Authors confirm that the current research and its results are genuine and have been published nowhere so far. The proposed structural model in the current research can be used in government departments and improve the entrepreneurship status of employees in the organization.

Keywords

• Managers’ Power
• Employees’ Entrepreneurship
• Iran