An assessment of corporate entrepreneurship in a petrochemical company / D. Govender

Since the beginnings of venture creation the traditional role of the entrepreneur hasevolved from only being the owner of a small business to include those individualswithin a large organisation who has entrepreneurial skills and applies these to benefitthe company. The focus of this research study was the assessment of corporateentrepreneurship within Sasol Polymers, a division of Sasol Ltd.A comprehensive literature review was conducted in chapter 2. In the literaturereview entrepreneurship, corporate entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial climatewere defined. The dimensions of corporate entrepreneurship and the 13 constructsmeasuring the entrepreneurial climate were discussed, after which the constructsmeasuring the perceived success of the organisation were presented. Chapter 2concluded by presenting practical suggestions in which an entrepreneurial climatecould be established in an organisation.A historic overview of Sasol and Sasol Polymers was then presented. Amongothers; the history, vision, strategy, technology and innovation was discussed. Thechapter concluded with the unique causal factors of Sasol Polymers that promptedthis study.Empirical research was conducted after the literature review and background to theorganisation. The empirical research focused on discussing the results obtainedfrom the corporate entrepreneurship questionnaire. Top, middle and lower levelmanagers of Sasol Polymers were selected as the sample population for this studyand a 50% response rate was achieved. Basic demographic information of therespondents were dealt with first, after which the perceptions of the respondents withregard to the 13 constructs measuring the entrepreneurial climate and the constructsmeasuring the perceived success of the organisation were discussed. Furthermore,relationships were determined between demographic variables and the constructsmeasured in the questionnaire. Following the detailed empirical analysis done in chapter 4, it was concluded thatmanagers participating in the survey regarded the constructs vision and strategicintent, strong customer orientation and entrepreneurial leadership as the mostprevalent in Sasol Polymers. The least prevalent constructs required for anentrepreneurial climate were resource availability and accessibility, tolerance forrisk, mistakes and failure and sponsors/champions. No practical significantdifference could be found between the mean values of any of the demographicalcategories and the constructs measured in the questionnaire. The study concludeswith practical recommendation, a measurement of the achievement of objectives andsuggestions for future research.