Act your age? Age, intrapreneurial behavior, social capital and performance

Abstract

Purpose

With increases in life expectancy, age diversity has emerged as a common feature of organizations. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the connection between employee age, intrapreneurial behaviors (i.e. introducing new ventures inside an organization), intra-organizational social capital (SC) and their connection to employee performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A paper-based survey was distributed among 617 participants from five organizations. Three organizations operate in the industrial industry, while the other two operate in the service field.

Findings

The findings show that intrapreneurial behaviors moderate the positive connection between age and performance. That is, among employees engaged in intrapreneurship, older workers evaluated their performance more highly compared to their younger counterparts. However, among workers who did not participate in intrapreneurship, younger employees evaluated their performances as higher compared to older workers. The authors also found that age was negatively connected to intrapreneurial activities, and this connection was mediated by intra-organizational SC.

Originality/value

The results of this study highlight the contribution of older employees to intrapreneurial activities and organizational performance while pointing to obstacles that may inhibit them from participating in intrapreneurship. The results have both theoretical and practical implications, which can aid HR managers in their attempt to establish a positive age-diversity climate.

Citation

Ben Hador, B. and Klein, G. (2020), "Act your age? Age, intrapreneurial behavior, social capital and performance", Employee Relations, Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 349-365. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-01-2019-0059