Corporate entrepreneurship in a collectivist culture: the role of time availability

Purpose This study aims to investigate whether the model containing five organisational determinants of corporate entrepreneurship developed by Kuratko, Hornsby and Covin is valid in Serbia. Design/methodology/approach The model was tested on a sample that included managers and employees from four banks in Serbia. The Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment Instrument (CEAI) was used as the research instrument and factor analysis was used as the basic statistical method. This study examined whether the 48 items that compose the CEAI could be grouped in the context of the national culture of Serbia to provide the five determinants that were identified by Kuratko, Hornsby and Covin. Findings The results show that the factor analysis identified four determinants identical to those in the CEAI model. However, time availability failed the validity test in previous studies conducted in Serbia and other countries with collectivist cultures. It can be concluded that collectivism connected with high-power distance, uncertainty avoidance and the polychromatic concept of time caused the cultural limitation of time availability as a determinant of corporate entrepreneurship. Originality/value This study indicates that national culture could be a factor that determines the validity of organisational determinants of corporate entrepreneurship and that these factors cannot be taken for granted in cultures other than those in which the theory of corporate entrepreneurship arose. Finally, corporate entrepreneurship has been investigated in the banking industry, which is unusual because it is globally renowned for its conservatism.