How corporate entrepreneurship shapes millennials' work engagement: the role of autonomy and competence

Corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and work engagement (WE) are well-established topics in the literature; however, little is known about the psychological processes through which a CE ecosystem shapes employee engagement. Specifically, no prior studies have explained this relationship in terms of psychological need satisfaction. In addition, the millennial workforce, characterized by distinctive values and work preferences, has received limited attention in CE research. To address these gaps, this study applies self-determination theory (SDT) to examine how satisfaction of basic psychological needs accounts for the link between a CE ecosystem and millennials' WE.

We employed a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, independently and concurrently collecting primary data through semi-structured interviews with HR professionals from ten organizations in India and survey responses from 233 millennial employees within these organizations. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis, while the quantitative data were examined using regression, path, and effects analyses to test the proposed conceptual framework.

The findings indicate that a CE ecosystem is positively associated with millennials' WE. This relationship is fully mediated by satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and competence, two core dimensions of SDT.

The results suggest that organizations seeking to improve engagement and retention among valued millennial employees may benefit from implementing CE ecosystems that are deliberately designed to satisfy these psychological needs, with positive implications for both individual and organizational performance. The study's theoretical, empirical, methodological, and practical contributions are discussed.