The effects of entrepreneurial orientation on job stressors and the moderating role of high-performance work systems: employee perspectives from two industries

Abstract

Firm-level entrepreneurship has recently gained increasing popularity, as it often results in superior performance and creates a competitive advantage. Although the positive effects of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on organisational outcomes have been researched extensively, few scholars have considered employees’ perception of a firm’s EO and its benefits in different organisational contexts. This study examines whether a system of human resource management practices, that is, high-performance workplace systems (HPWSs) moderates the negative relationship between employees’ perceptions of organisational EO and job stressors in different settings. In line with the job demands–resources model, the findings indicate that HPWSs are beneficial, but their effects within different contexts should be noted. In manufacturing organisations, HPWSs contribute very little to reducing job stressors when EO perceptions are high, but they mitigate job stressors when EO is low. In service settings, employees who perceive their organisation’s EO to be either low or high experience high levels of job stressors, irrespective of how they perceive the organisation’s HPWSs.

Keywords:

• Entrepreneurial orientation
• job stressors
• high-performance workplace systems
• industry
• SMEs